MOGADISHU, 21 February 2022, (TON): Somalia’s president and premier have declared null and void a deal signed by their energy minister with a US company to explore for oil and gas off the coast of the troubled Horn of Africa nation.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed and Coastline Exploration Ltd had announced on Saturday seven production sharing agreementscovering deep water offshore blocks.

Ahmed hailed it as a huge moment for Somalia, one of the poorest countries in the world, which is in the grip of a political crisis over long-delayed elections and also battling a jihadist insurgency.

He said in a statement “recently completed seismic programmes indicate that Somalia has the potential to become a significant oil and gas producing country.”

The PSAs will have an immediate positive effect on the country, he said, and are expected to generate tens of millions of dollars for federal and state coffers. But both Somalia’s president and prime minister, who are often at loggerheads, swiftly denounced the deal.