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Lying on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the tinyAfrican nation of Djibouti serves as a gateway to the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. Its port isthe lifeblood of its economy, providing thebiggest source of income and employment.World Port Development reports…

he Port of Djibouti, strategically located on the Red Sea, plays a critical role in the country’s USD 982 million

economy.The port is also vital to the landlocked Ethiopia and is an importanttrans-shipment hub for trade for East Africancountries. For this reason, the Port ofDjibouti SA (DPSA) has embarked on anexpansion vision to give the ports and thecountry a competitive advantage.The newexpansion plans include constructing five newports in Djibouti/Doraleh,Tadjourah town,Ghoubet and Damerjog, and will contributeto making the country an indispensabletrans-shipment hub for trade for East Africancountries and beyond.The construction is needed to respond to increased demand asEthiopia’s economic growth meant morereliance on port activities to fuel that growth.Besides the expansion of port services, a newrailway that links Djibouti to the hinterland(Addis Ababa in Ethiopia) is being constructedoffering - once completed - increased

efficiency of the transportation services andlower costs. In addition, the new port inDoraleh - the Doraleh Multi-purpose Port(DMP) will be supported by a free tradezone that should enable foreigners to investin small and light industries.

At present, the port is the major trans-shipment port for East African countries.The Government of Djibouti is committed tooffer the best port services and they workhard to achieve this objective.The location ofDjibouti on the Red Sea - one of the busiestshipping lanes in the world - has made theports attractive for investors. Currently, thecountry is host to some prestigious port operators including DP World and ChinaMerchant Holding International (CMHI).WithChina’s vision of establishing a 21st MaritimeSilk Road, Djibouti is becoming a criticalnode in a belt that links the old Continents;Asia,Africa and Europe.Therefore, Djiboutiexpects to attract more investors resulting inmore expansion projects.The port ofDjibouti has greatly grown as a regional hubbetween 2012 and 2014 thanks to an agreement with their partner CMHI, whichtook a share in the new co-operation Portsof Djibouti SA in January 2013. Port statisticsfor 2016 show a three-fold growth in cargo

throughput since 2010.“This is an importantindicator of the confidence customers havein our services,” said Saad Omar Guelleh,CEO of Ports of Djibouti.The increase incargo throughput has compelled the managerialteam to expand the port facilities by developing five other ports in response to theincreasing demand.The ports will contribute todeveloping a trans-shipment hub to improveall cargo traffics including containers, vehiclesand break-bulk cargo. Last year, the porthandled just over 6.5 million metric tonnesof cargo alone, and Ports of Djibouti plans toattract more business to the port with theaim to break the 10 million metric tonnesbarrier.“The challenge would be to win thesenew volumes in a five-year plan to make thePort of Djibouti the best port in the continent,”said Guelleh.

Djibouti port has an ambitious vision thataims at equipping Djibouti with a number ofstate-of-the-art port facilities that are able to compete with the biggest African players.To do so, they have developed a new portexpansion programme.This includes theconstruction of a new multi-purpose port in the Doraleh district - the Doraleh Multi-purpose Port (DMP), which will becommissioned at the end of April 2017.

Doraleh Multi-purpose Port - phase I & II

Grand plans for Djibouti

TBecome a trans-shipment hub

An ambitious plan

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In addition, a new terminal at Ghoubet willbe completed, as well as a new livestock portin Damerjog district and a new port inTadjourah.The DMP comprises four terminalsfor handling containers, general cargo, bulkcargo and vehicles.The investment jointlyprovided by Djibouti Port SA (DPSA) andChina Merchant Holdings (CMHI) came toUSD 590 million.The new DMP (phase I) willfeature a 94 hectare terminal area with a1.2km berth length and will feature 4 gantrycranes, 12 portal cranes and 8 mobile cranes.The depth of the port (15.5m) allows toaccommodate vessels with 100,000 dwt,which is a huge improvement from their existing port facilities that could handle only60,000 dwt.The construction of DMP is partof the policy of the Djiboutian governmentto set up a multi-modal transport system andan integrated high-tech system which willmanage the movement of the cargo. One ofthe largest free trade zones in East Africa willbe located next to DMP in order to storegoods for transit.The port of Tadjourah isplanned to handle bulk commodities and inparticular potash handling.The port’s investment amounted to USD160 million andwill be completed in numerous phases with

the first phase planned to become operationalby the end of May 2017.The new USD64 million port in Ghoubet region has been builtfor salt export from Lac Assal with an annual throughput of 6 million tonnes.The port isexpected to handle vessels with a capacity of100,000 dwt and will be operational in June2017. In the Dameriog region, a new USD70million port is being constructed and is specifically designed for handling livestock.Theport will be operational by the end of 2017.All of these new projects are supported byan electric railway and a free trade zone.

At present, two Chinese companies are completing building the new 756km electrifiedrailway that links the port of Djibouti tolandlocked Ethiopia. Ethiopia, with a populationof 95 million people and a 10.3% economicgrowth in 2014, relies heavily on Djibouti as99% of their imports and exports passthrough Djibouti port.This has stretched theroad transportation services in the country,thus, the need for a new railway networkwas an obvious choice.The new railway isexpected to be operational by the end of2017 and is planned to connect Djibouti to

not only Ethiopia, but also to other EastAfrican landlocked countries such as Ugandaand South Sudan.The railway will speed up cargotransportation and lower costs considerably,which will make the port more competitive.To support the expansion strategy the portauthorities have conducted and finalised afeasibility study for a new free trade zonecovering 43.5sqkm adjacent to DMP.The newfree trade zone is planned to establish smalland light industries as well as warehousingfor stored cargo to be re-distributed toneighbouring countries.The aim and objectivesof the free trade zones are to enable foreignfirms to operate freely in the country, benefitfrom more competent foreign firms investingin the free trade zone, and to fuel economicgrowth.The vision embraced by the port ofDjibouti with its mega investments will

strengthen the existing facilities at theDoraleh Container Terminal (DCT), which isa joint venture between DP World and theDjibouti government. It will also make theports more competitive and will contributeto making Djibouti a connecting node thatlinks the world’s Continents.“We are on agood path and we have a great partnersbehind us especially Ethiopia and all theother African countries. Djibouti is theSingapore of Africa and will soon change thiscontinent for the better,” said Guelleh.

A new railway

Doraleh Multi-purpose Port - phase I

At Ghoubet a new terminal will be constructed for salt export

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