Somaliland: a photographic diary – in pictures

Mark Tran of the Guardian recently spent a week looking at how life is changing in Somaliland. He covered the Hargeisa international book fair, Dahabshiil – a money transfer company, a $17m Coca-Cola bottling plant in the desert, and the thriving livestock trade at the port of Berbera. Here is a selection of his photographs :

This Soviet-era Mig in Freedom Square in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital, is a reminder of the heavy
bombardment the city endured in 1988, when Somaliland broke away from Somalia – then ruled by the
dictator Siad Barre. Reduced to rubble, Hargeisa became known as the 'Dresden of Africa'
Photograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Hargeisa is experiencing a construction boom, financed by remittances from the Somali diaspora, many of
whom are in the US and the UKPhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Hargeisa and Somaliland are in desperate need of good roads. Some construction and repairs are being
financed jointly by local authorities and private-sector moneyPhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Somaliland is about to pass a banking law that would allow the country to have proper banks for the
 first time. Dahabshiil, a money transfer company, has set up this new banking facility, which will open for business
once it is granted a licencePhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Street vendors in Hargeisa are a reminder of the hard existence for many Somalilanders.
Youth unemployment is estimated to be as high as 75%, and at least 65-70% of the population
of 3.5 million are younger than 30Photograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Mini-vans are the main form of public transport, although recently yellow taxis have begun
to appear in HargeisaPhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Vendors selling drinks at the Hargeisa book fair. The drinks come from Somaliland's new Coca-Cola
bottling plant located an hour outside the capital, in the desert. Local produce is also on show, including
watermelons, papayas and lemonsPhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

Somaliland is highly security conscious. Even though this was a book fair, armed guards were out in force.
Here they are talking to the fair's founder, Jama Musse JamaPhotograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

A view of the port at Berbera. Somaliland has a big rubbish problem, which the authorities are struggling
 to deal with Photograph: Mark Tran/Guardian

A statue at Berbera, the port from where cattle, camels and oxen are shipped out in their thousands every
day to Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Gulf Photograph: Mark Tran/Guardian