Somaliland – which I have previously called “the other Somali republic” in this column to highlight its lesser visibility compared with Somalia, from which it seceded in 1991 but has struggled to gain international recognition – has once again strutted into the international spotlight, uninvited but sharply dressed.

This follows a flurry of endorsements from high-profile Republicans in the US.  They have reignited Somaliland’s long, winding campaign to be seen and treated as a sovereign nation.

Setting the ball rolling back in June, Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry introduced the Republic of Somaliland Independence Act – a piece of legislation that would formally recognise Somaliland as a separate, independent nation.

“Foreign adversaries are on the march in Africa and around the globe, and it’s in our national interest to strengthen relationships with reliable partners who share our values and contribute to our security,” he said.

The Bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Andy Ogles, Pat Harrington and Tom Tiffany, all of whom have previously criticised US foreign policy towards Somalia.

Then, in August, when asked if he supported recognition of Somaliland, particularly in light of the self-declared republic’s reported offer to hold Palestinian refugees from Gaza, President Donald Trump responded: “We are looking into that right now.” During the same month, Ted Cruz, who chairs the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, sent a letter to Trump urging formal recognition, noting that Somaliland has become “a critical security and diplomatic partner for the US, helping America advance our national security interests in the Horn of Africa and beyond”.

Somaliland’s path to its unrecognised status began in the colonial era. The British controlled the north – then called British Somaliland – while Italy governed the south, Italian Somalia. In 1960, British Somaliland gained independence and was briefly a sovereign nation – for all of five days – before voluntarily uniting with Italian Somalia to form the Republic of Somalia.

Things didn’t go as envisaged. The planned political balance quickly soured. Following a brutal civil war and the collapse of the Somali State in 1991, Somaliland declared independence and went its own way.

Since then, it has been the adult in the room, holding regular elections and running an effective government, while Somalia has struggled with instability and the ever-present threat of Al-Shabaab insurgents.

But despite ticking almost all the boxes for statehood, it remains a country in everything but UN membership.

The US’s potential recognition could be linked to assumed behind-the-scenes manoeuvres by either the US or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in Somaliland, Somalia or Sudan, reported by Reuters in March but denied by all three countries.

It should be emphasised, however, that US recognition of Somaliland isn’t a done deal. Despite all the noise from the Republicans, no sitting US President has dared cross the threshold of recognising a breakaway State in Africa, and there have been a few, including Biafra in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970, Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1960 to 1963, and South Kasai, also in the DRC, from 1960 to 1962. Many commentators believe that, if the risk of destabilising an already fragile region or the Palestinian relocation rumour doesn’t sink Somaliland’s chances, the optics might.

This means Somaliland will continue to be denied access to the international financial system, substantial foreign investment and full integration into global economic and political systems. This limits the country’s development opportunities and the strategic trade role its position along the Gulf of Aden could offer.

While the Republicans are warming to Somaliland’s breakaway project, separatists in Cameroon’s Anglophone region – which they call Ambazonia – have not been so lucky. Several of their leaders have been arrested in the US. The first, in April, was Eric Tataw, who stands accused of conspiring to provide material support to armed separatists in the region. His compatriots, Pascal Wongbi and Benedict Nwana Kuah, who is also a naturalised US citizen, have been appearing before a grand jury in Minneapolis since the beginning of this month, indicted for organising, directing and financing kidnappings, bombings and killings back home.

In the lottery of international recognition, Somaliland seems to have pulled a better ticket.