By M.A. Egge
The Republic of Somaliland has just participated in an important conference in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, at an invitation that had all the trappings of statehood.
The major conference in Addis Ababa, the Youth of Africa that had African nations with their respective flags in attendance, witnessed Somaliland’s participation courtesy of formal invitation to the country.
Pictures of the flags of Somalia and Somaliland placed side by side at the conference venue, where the flags of the African countries participating in the conference are located, gripped the internet with abuzz.
The photos posted on social media also went viral on the internet, further reinforcing the emboldened high status Somaliland has been in the international limelight in the recent weeks.
The step and gesture of inviting the Republic of Somaliland to the international conference of World Governments Summit at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was quite profound.
Somaliland’s President was invited as a Head of State hence given priority as a key-note speaker.
It was remarkable and quite notable that even the UAE government news agency WAM termed President Abdirahman Irro as “the President of the Republic of Somaliland.”
It is worth mentioning that Somaliland’s invitation to the Addis Ababa Africa Youth Conference comes as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in Mogadishu on Thursday for talks with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which focused on strengthening reconciliation efforts between their countries.