The container terminal at the Port of Djibouti. |
Not that long ago
Djibouti was known for little more than French legionnaires, atrocious
heat and its old railway line to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Nowadays,
however, this tiny republic of only about 900,000 people on the Horn of
Africa coast has big plans, including turning its capital into the Dubai
of Africa.
Befitting a
crossroads nation, a heady melting pot culture exists: cafés brewing
coffee in the traditional Ethiopian style, Yemeni restaurants serving
the specialty poisson Yemenite, and haggling at open-air markets in
rapid-fire Somali.
Since gaining
independence from France in 1977, Djibouti has steadily carved out a
regional role through its strategic and commercial relevance at the
junction of Africa and the Middle East, and at the confluence of the Red
Sea and the Gulf of Aden, overlooking a passage of water used by 30
percent of the world's shipping transiting from and to the Suez Canal.
"It's a weird
place, really," says an Addis Ababa-based foreign diplomat. "Djibouti's
also important strategically. I don't know why more isn't reported about
it."
Recently-acquired
Chinese investment totaling more than 12 billion dollars is funding the
building of six new ports, two new airports, a railway, and what is
being touted as the biggest and most dynamic free trade zone in Africa,
potentially giving the capital, Djibouti City, an edge over its rivals.
"About 2 million
African customers travel to Dubai each year," says Dawit Gebre-ab, with
the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority overseeing the city's
commercial infrastructure development. "We know what is on their
shopping lists, and they could be coming here instead."
Helping secure such
ambitions is the fact that Djibouti is viewed as offering some of the
most prime military real-estate in the world, both to counter piracy
threatening that key shipping lane - since peaking in 2011, when 151
vessels were attacked and 25 hijacked, piracy has steeply declined - and
to shore up regional stability.
Another foreign diplomat referred to Djibouti as "an oasis in a bad neighbourhood".
In 2014, the US
military agreed a 10-year extension to its presence - with an option to
extend for another 10 years - centered on Camp Lemonnier, its African
headquarters.
US president Barack
Obama described the camp as "extraordinarily important not only to our
work throughout the Horn of Africa but throughout the region."
A similar
perspective happens to be held by China, also. In addition to its
Djibouti investments, having invested huge amounts in the rest of East
Africa - especially in neighboring Ethiopia, one of the world's fastest
growing economies, and 90 percent of whose imports come through Djibouti
- it wants to secure those interests and others throughout sub-Saharan
Africa.
Furthermore, ever
thirsty for crude oil, China wants to shield its heavy dependence on
imports from the Middle East that south of Djibouti pass from the Gulf
of Aden into the Indian Ocean and then on to the South China Sea.
In 2016 China
finalized plans for a new base in Obock, a small port a couple of hours
by ferry from Djibouti City northward across the Gulf of Tadjoura. About
10,000 Chinese personal will occupy the base once complete.
Foreign military
already stationed in Djibouti - including from France, Germany,
Netherlands, Spain and Japan - number around 25,000, according to some
estimates.
But behind all the construction cranes, flashy hotels and military camps, there still exists a very different side to Djibouti.
Every morning in
the small town of Tadjoura, about 40km west of Obock along the
coastline, local Djiboutians queue to collect their daily quota of
baguettes--a scene repeated across the country.
Djibouti's former
existence as colonial French Somaliland has left an indelible Gallic
stamp. Along with Somali, Afar and Arabic, French remains one of the
main languages used.
A constant stream
of Bonsoirs greet the visitor during an evening wander around Djibouti
City's so-called European quarter and its focal point: Place du 27 Juin
1977, a large square of whitewashed buildings and Moorish arcades named
for the date of independence.
South of the
quarter's French-colonial-inspired architecture and orderly avenues and
boulevards, lies the dustier and more ramshackle African quarter.
Here, befitting a
crossroads nation, a heady melting pot culture exists: cafés brewing
coffee in the traditional Ethiopian style, Yemeni restaurants serving
the specialty poisson Yemenite, and haggling at open-air markets in
rapid-fire Somali all adds to the surprising melting pot within this
small capital city.
But whether that
lively cultural mix can withstand the brash new modernizing development
is a concern for some locals, proud of the country's past and
heterogeneous mix of traditions.
"My fear is not
about cultural change, because we need that as this is an
ultra-conservative society," says an elegant Djiboutian professional in
her early thirties, her hair covered in the Muslim style, and a
cigarette clasped in her slender fingers as the sun dips behind the
original old port in the distance.
"It is more about the effects on our customs, such as traditional clothing, food and decorations that symbolize our identity."
Others are more
outspoken in their criticism of Djibouti's current strategic and
economic upswing--a healthy 6 percent a year, and likely to surpass 7
percent amid the construction boom.
Some locals talk of
a country run by a business-savvy dictatorship that has reaped profits
from its superpower tenants while not doing enough to relieve widespread
poverty; having signed an initial 10-year lease for the base, China
will pay 20 million dollars per year in rent. The US pays 60 million
dollars a year to lease Camp Lemonnier.
"The government
only cares about how to collect the country's wealth," says a Djiboutian
journalist previously arrested for reporting domestic issues. "They do
not care about freedom of expression, human rights, justice and equal
opportunities of people."
Dreams of a
Dubai-type future don't appear to have much relevance for most local
Djiboutians, 42 percent of whom live in extreme poverty, while up to 60
percent of the labor force are unemployed, according to current
estimates.
"Now I can't stay
here," says Mohammed, a marine engineer, who left Iraq after the 1991
war for Djibouti where he married a local woman. "My three children
won't be able to get good enough jobs. I'm hoping my brother in the US
will be able to get us a green card."
A 2014 US State
Department human-rights report on the country cited the government's
restrictions on free speech and assembly; its use of excessive force,
including torture; as well as the harassment and detention of government
critics.
Even the hugely
popular use of khat by locals is manipulated by government officials as a
means of repression, critics claim. It's alleged government affiliates
facilitate its sale in the country as a money maker and means of keeping
a potentially frustrated populace calm, while handing it when campaign
season rolls around to win favor.
Meanwhile, ships
endlessly glide to and from the ports, where cranes offload containers
to waiting trucks late into the night under the arc lights.
In early 2017, the
new Chinese-built 4-billion-dollar railway officially opened linking
Djibouti to the Ethiopian interior--the original railway has lain
abandoned for years--and which could eventually connect to other
Chinese-built railways emerging across the African continent.
Djibouti's location
has always been its most precious resource--devoid of a single river or
the likes of extractable minerals, it produces almost nothing.
Nevertheless, for
nearly 150 years it has attracted armies, mercenaries, smugglers,
gunrunners and traders: anyone and everyone concerned with the movement
or control of merchandise. And that trend only seems set to increase.
"Ethiopia has a
population 100 times larger than Djibouti's but it only imports and
exports six times as much," says Aboubaker Omar, chairman and CEO of
Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority. "Imagine the day that demand
matches Ethiopia's population size."
We are an Oil & Gas Trading Company which deals on Russian Petroleum Product Service FOB Rotterdam for JP54, JA1, D6,D2 and CIF Basics for all Russian Origin Products., with good and workable procedure.. We are expert in exportation of Russian Petroleum Product around the globe.
ReplyDeleteRegards;
Krivtsov Afanasy
Tel: +7 9265036559
4 Blvd. Kirishi, Leningrad Region Russia 187110
E-mail: Krivtsovoilconsultant@yandex.ru
Email: krivtsovoilgasconsultant@mail.ru
Skype: krivtsovoilandgasconsultant