Somaliland votes amid Horn of Africa tensions

Now, it has become the focus of a major dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia that international observers fear could spark conflict in the restive region.

In January, Somaliland president Muse Bihi signed an agreement with Ethiopia, offering a lease on 20 kilometres (12 miles) of its Red Sea coastline to its land-locked neighbour.

He says Ethiopia will recognise Somaliland in return, though this has never been confirmed by Addis Ababa and full details of the deal have never been made public.

The memorandum of understanding has aroused fury in Somalia, sparking a verbal and military escalation with Ethiopia that has alarmed the international community.

'Main agenda'

Bihi's opponents for the presidency, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Faysal Ali Warabe, have not criticised the agreement.

In power since 2017, the 76-year-old Bihi of the Kulmiye party has pledged there will be progress on the deal if he is re-elected.

"That's his main argument, his main agenda in the election," said local lawyer and political analyst Guleid Ahmed Jama.

But Jama said the economy and peaceful stability were more important to the impoverished territory's 1.2 million voters.

While pre-election street rallies have been lively and colourful, the campaign has often been heated, with the opposition accusing Bihi of dividing Somaliland.

An opposition supporter, Hood Abdullahi Adan, told AFP that the region had "gone backwards" during Bihi's seven years in power, listing "conflict, inflation and hunger" among its problems.