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Berbera is the main port city of the Republic of Somaliland. Straddling the geopolitically relevant Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the port is a site of both national and international power plays.  Over the centuries, the port has attracted the interest of competing powers, including the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Great Britain, the USSR, the United States, and more recently the United Arab Emirates. The city of Berbera hosts several key businesses and infrastructural nodes, including the Berbera cement factory, Berbera oil reservoirs, and one of the longest airstrips in Africa. Despite the competition among international and sub-national powers for control of the seaport, the city’s major infrastructures remain underdeveloped. Many citizens do not have access to energy grids, and electricity is unaffordable for many. Major roads in the city are not paved and lack proper rainwater drainage, regularly causing flooding. The road networks connecting Berbera, Hargeisa, and Burao remain in poor conditions.