Jabhad Posted December 6, 2006 By A Correspondent The EastAfrican Djibouti has embarked on an ambitious programme that may see Mombasa knocked off its perch as the eastern seaboard’s main port, with multimillion-dollar investments lined up to expand the small Red Sea nation’s container and oil terminal capacities. Sources say the Kenya Ports Authority is watching the improvements at the Doraleh port, which will include the construction of a two-kilometre jetty and a $400 million container terminal with interest. Work on the latter began last week. With just four container terminals and 10 cranes, the port currently has a capacity to move 400,000 container units per year and 10 million tonnes of general cargo. The first phase of Doraleh’s expansion, which is situated just 10 kilometres from Djibouti’s capital, started earlier in the year. It involves the construction of a $130 million oil terminal with a capacity of nearly 400,000 cubic metres. Plans are also underway to turn the port into a duty-free zone. The developments are the results of a strategic plan was launched in 2000, when the Djibouti government invited Dubai’s DP World - one of the world’s leading port companies - to partner in the expansion project. DP World has undertaken to complete the upgrading by 2008. Injection of capital and expertise by the Dubai firm is expected to make Doraleh port a significant player in the import/export business for the eastern Africa seaboard, whose hinterland is home to more than 400 million people. The Djibouti government hopes that the port will eventually become the key economic engine for the 800,000 inhabitants of the resources-poor desert country. The emergence of Doraleh port as a major player in the Horn of Africa is expected to offer stiff competition to Mombasa, traditionally the dominant cargo hub in the region. Mombasa serves more than half a dozen countries including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Tanzania. Today, the Kenyan port handles more than 15 million tonnes of cargo each year. Facilities at the premier Kenyan port include a deep-water port with 21 berths, two bulk oil jetties and dry bulk wharves that can handle all size ships. It also offers specialised facilities such as cold storage, warehousing, and container terminals. In the fight for market share, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is likely to point out that the port of Doraleh does not have an adequately developed hinterland infrastructure, including rail-lines and roads, to transport goods into and from the interior. The political situation in the Horn of Africa, where Ethiopia and Eritrea have remained in a state of war, will in the short-term make full exploitation of the new facilities difficult to achieve which will also favourMombasa. Besides, says the KPA, a large part of the 500-kilometre road linking the port to Nairobi has re-built. Kenya and Uganda also recently jointly concessioned their railway systems to a South African consortium in an attempt at making the service more efficient in moving cargo to-and-from the port. Recently, the port of Mombasa has also invested heavily in modern equipment including cranes and tugs, as well as reducing bureaucracy and pilferage to remain competitive. The port has also embarked on a marketing blitz to change its image as a corruption-prone backwater. Just last week, KPA signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the port with Malaysia’s Port Klang Authority (PKA) meant to enhance trade between the two ports. Source: The East African, Dec 05, 2006 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jabhad Posted December 6, 2006 Aid Shipments Causing Congestion in Djibouti Port ISSUE 79 Front Page Index Headlines Addis Ababa, July 21, 2003 (IRIN) - Food aid shipments to Ethiopia are facing hold-ups due to congestion caused by the massive quantities arriving in Djibouti port. Both the UN's Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said the large-scale arrivals of aid had led to congestion at the docks. At present some five ships are offloading around 128,000 mt of aid. But WFP told IRIN that the congestion was not holding up deliveries to families needing food. "This will not delay deliveries to beneficiaries," the spokesman insisted. The current aid operation to Ethiopia is one of the largest in its history. In June, a staggering 222,700 mt of assistance was brought in through the port - most of it emergency aid. This month - which is part of the hungry season when farmers are awaiting the fruits of their harvest - some 250,000 mt are expected to be delivered. "A high level of arrivals of food aid in Djibouti port has led to some congestion," EUE said in a report. "This is partially due to the diversion to Djibouti of one vessel originally scheduled to offload in Berbera in Somaliland, which is now waiting at anchor in Djibouti." WFP added: "Efforts are being made to improve the delivery to Ethiopia of urgently needed vegetable oil and corn-soya blend, which has recently arrived in Djibouti." One hundred trucks, sub-contracted from the country's defence department, are now being used to bring the aid into Ethiopia - usually taking four days to deliver it. A further 100 government trucks - each ton of food costing between US $32 and US $38 to deliver - are due to be deployed, which aid agencies say will ease the congestion. Somaliland.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jabhad Posted December 6, 2006 Djibouti Port, How Reliable Henceforth ? Djibouti and Ethiopia have been cozy partners for a long time. Joint meetings at which mutual economic social and political issues were discussed were common features. Leaders and officials of the two countries continually visited each other’s capitals, which to their credit they still endeavor to maintain. In short, these neighboring countries have had exemplary relations. The two countries also reached an agreement through a joint ministerial commission that met in 1999 here in Addis Ababa on port utilization modalities and tariff adjustment for goods exported as well as imported by Ethiopia via the Djibouti port. However, at least regarding tariffs, recently things did not seem as they were some months back. Ethiopia has been using the Djibouti port for nearly all of its trade since quitting the use of Eritrean ports as a result of the border conflict with Eritrea in 1998. The conflict evolved into an open war that had enormous cost to Ethiopia. But Ethiopia’s pragmatic resort to the use of the Djibouti port meant a closer tie between the two countries. Moreover, the people and Government, of course, could only be happy over the developments which enhanced trade and economic relations between Ethiopia and Djibouti more than they were at any time in the past. Land-locked Ethiopia had benefited from the services of the port, and Djibouti had a customer in Ethiopia which it cannot otherwise enjoy. This arrangement, or fate, if you may wish to call it, has been a boon to both countries. An unexpected development however clumsily crept in just a couple of weeks back. Djibouti set plans to raise tariffs on goods to and from Ethiopia via its ports, contrary to earlier agreements reached between the two countries. What Djibouti intended to impose on commercial goods through its tariffs increment was to be effective after January 15 last week. The news of tariff increment not only shocked Ethiopian authorities but also caused fear and uneasiness among the Ethiopian business community. That apparently caused some alarm here. However, Ethiopia’s reactions articulated through its Foreign Affairs Ministry that Djibouti’s unilateral toying with the tariff scheme is contrary to prior agreement reached to this end. Thus it cannot be binding having received a good ear just in time to save the good relations that has been maintained. Intentions for increment of course came following a takeover of port management by a company known as the Dubai Ports International (DPI) which seemingly explained the aim of the increment as being to compensate costs incurred by huge investment to improve port services. Be that as it may Ethiopia has had a standing agreement to be consulted before such major steps are taken; and this was what was enunciated by the foreign ministry. The good news is that last week it seems that officials of the two countries came to a temporary agreement at least to make delays in the new tariff management until some revisions could be made in the near future. This for now means that there won’t be any change in the tariffs, and if any is to be made, it is after officials of Djibouti and Ethiopian transport ministries, and the Dubai Ports International sit for a joint meeting to review tariff figures and make reasonable adjustments. What if company as well as Djibouti persist and make pressures on Ethiopia to accept their way? Could Ethiopia have any other option? Many fear negotiations may not work. Couldn’t one option alone be a source of fear and frustration? What lesson could Ethiopia draw from such discomfort? It remains a matter of serious concern to the commercial sector as well as and other activities of this country. AddisTribune.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted December 6, 2006 Djibouti insha Allah. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
