Somalia Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Driving in Somalia-Somalia Car Rental
The situation in Somalia is obviously fast changing and constantly unstable. Currently most Governments advise against all travel to most of the country. The Al Shabaab terror group continue to issue threats against Westerners and Mogadishu remains a no go area.You should check your Governments website before considering travel to any part of Somalia with restrictions now likely to include the previously accessible areas of Somaliland and Puntland.
Government officials and NGO’s working in the country can only drive in convoy and under supervision of close protection teams, though travel within the city of Hargeisa in Somaliland may be possible, but not without risk. Any trips beyond the city to Berbera and Laas Geel caves would need armed guards though. Foreigners can drive on their own licence in Somaliland but the law states -” a person holding a driving license or other international authorizing document for driving issued by a foreign country can drive the same-weighed transport authorized in Somaliland. if your foreign driving license is issued in a way different from the way method stated by the related international rules, then a translating document written on of the principal languages spoken in Somaliland should be attached.”
Around 10% of Somalilands 8000km of roads are paved, but in 2019 work commenced on a new highway linking the Somaliland Port City of Berbera and the Ethiopian border.
There do still seem to be car rental companies operating in Hargeisa offering self drive. However, the Somaliland Diaspora Agency states -“If you are not known or are customer to the Motor Sales/Rent Centre, you must bring a person locally known to be guarantor for the responsibility of the vehicle (Damiin)”. Therefore if you’re a foreigner not attached to a local company or NGO I would imagine you would need to leave a sizeable cash deposit.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
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