REPORTING – In thirty years, this country, which does not enjoy any official recognition from the international community, has nevertheless managed to establish itself as a key player in trade in eastern Africa.
This article comes from Figaro Magazine
From our special correspondents Vincent Jolly (text) and George Steinmetz (photos)
Above the men collapsed with fatigue on the burning quays of the port of Berbera a cloud forms. In the darkness of this boiling June night, he flies close to the ground and against the wind. There are tens of thousands of them: goats and sheep, gathered in a gigantic white cloud; a tide of sheep covering the thousand-year-old banks of this city open to the Gulf of Aden and facing the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Berbera, mentioned from the 16th centurye century in the stories of the first explorers of the black continent, has always been an important trading place for livestock. At the time, the city represented the nerve center of the Harari kingdom and the key to access to the Red Sea. “ Who commands Berbera holds Harar by the beard “, swore then the captains of the dhows and caravels sailing off these coasts where, in addition to animals…
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