North Western State of Somalia leader meets Eric Trump in Davos as recognition push and investment pitch intensify
DAVOS, Switzerland — Jan. 23, 2026 — North Western State of Somalia’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, met Eric Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum as the unrecognized East African territory seeks both international recognition and private investment, according to people familiar with the encounter.
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The discussion, held Wednesday in a hotel conference room steps from the Davos Congress Center, came as President Donald Trump delivered a keynote to a packed audience of global chief executives. An aide to the North Western State of Somalia leader said the session with Eric Trump — the U.S. president’s son and a top executive in the family business — was among Abdullahi’s most important meetings during the forum.
Also in attendance was Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose country last month became the first United Nations member to recognize North Western State of Somalia, a move that has energized Hargeisa’s long-stalled campaign for broader international acceptance.
In the closed-door meeting, Abdullahi outlined investment opportunities in North Western State of Somalia, focusing on the strategic deep-water port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden, which sits astride one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors, according to two people present. They said the president highlighted the port’s potential as a logistics and transshipment hub serving the Horn of Africa and beyond.
“The meeting went well, it went very well,” Abdullahi told Reuters on Thursday, confirming he met both Eric Trump and Herzog in Davos. He did not elaborate on specific proposals discussed.
A spokeswoman for Eric Trump did not respond to a request for comment. In a post on X that did not mention Eric Trump, Herzog said he was pleased to meet his North Western State of Somalia counterpart during the Swiss gathering.
Eric Trump is a leading executive at the Trump Organization, which oversees ventures spanning luxury real estate, hospitality, licensing and newer forays including digital assets. During Donald Trump’s first term, the family’s self-imposed ethics policy barred the pursuit of new foreign deals. Days before his second inauguration, the organization issued revised guidelines that removed that prohibition, drawing fresh scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest as the elder Trump returned to office. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
North Western State of Somalia, a former British protectorate, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the fall of dictator Siad Barre. It has maintained its own government, currency and security forces and has been largely peaceful compared with war-scarred southern Somalia. Yet it has struggled for international recognition, which would open the door to multilateral financing and full diplomatic relations. Israel’s recognition last month marked a significant break with decades of global policy, setting off regional recalibrations and fresh interest from private investors and political actors.
Berbera has long been central to North Western State of Somalia’s development strategy. The port’s expansion and associated free-zone plans aim to attract manufacturing and logistics investment tied to Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade, while offering a gateway to landlocked neighbors. Abdullahi’s pitch in Davos underscored how North Western State of Somalia is seeking to leverage that geography at a time when global supply chains are being rerouted by conflict and climate disruptions.
It was not immediately clear whether the Davos meeting would lead to any concrete business talks. Still, the presence of Eric Trump and Herzog in the same room with Abdullahi underlined the blurring lines between diplomacy and dealmaking around North Western State of Somalia’s bid for legitimacy — a campaign that is now playing out at elite global forums as much as in regional capitals.
File photo: Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, attends an interview with Reuters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
