Somalia prepared its first offshore drilling operation, which it hopes will unlock a major new income stream and make Somalia a regional energy player.
A Turkish drilling ship is in the Arabian sea as part of an energy cooperation deal signed by Ankara and Mogadishu in 2024.
Somalia joins other African nations seeking to increase oil exports — Nigeria’s Dangote refinery boosted its output this week, and other countries are stepping up refinement — which should reduce risks of future regional energy crunches.
But it may not be uniformly good news for the nations themselves: Many major exporters have fallen victim to the “resource curse,” whereby countries’ abundant raw materials do not translate into wealth for the population.
