Watch This Battle Over Somalia Ports (Vital Oil Route)

[Kate Turlington + 44]

I think with all the chaos in Syria, Yemen and .. well ... across the Middle East, this brewing conflict over Somalia's ports between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is about to heat up, while everyone's sleeping. They've all been pouring tons of money into Somalia, and now they all want to get the ports out of it because of its proximity to key oil routes (and of course the proximity to the huge and growing market of Ethiopia, another development wonder that's slipped under our radar). It's about to get more interesting against the backdrop of the Saudi-Qatar dispute.  

 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Agreed, now that you pointed it out.  Somalia's ports and proximity to important international oil shipping routes make it ripe for takeover by assorted interests.

[Kate Turlington + 44]

Now it's a game of figuring out who's poured the most money in there. I was aware of high-level Turkish investment for some time, but it's more spread out. Clearly the Saudis want this straight shot to Yemen, too. The Turks are probably paving a way into Ethiopia, for textiles, etc. Saudis are a bit busy to take on Somalia right now. Qatar would love to get back them. So all kinds of proxy stuff ready to happen here. Another Yemen. 

[Kate Turlington + 44]

here's one article I've found ..

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/why-saudi-arabia-qatar-and-turkey-are-battling-over-somalia-1.6051936

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Good overview article, Kate.

A messy country in a messy region looks set to get even messier in a proxy fight for control of Somalia's ports.