Dubai Port Authority & Djibouti Port Seal Contract [Archives:2000/47/Front Page]

The Nairobi-based The East African newspaper has recently reported that Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) and Djibouti Port had signed an agreement giving the DPA the right to manage the port for 20 years. Under this agreement the DPA intends to increase the ports handling capacity from current 125,000 to 300,000 tones a year. The aim behind the contract is also to render Djibouti port the favored transshipment point in the Horn of Africa. The initial agreement between the two sides was signed in Djibouti in June.
The recent DPA move is part of its plans to conclude contracts to operate several ports in the Middle East. Choosing the port of Djibouti by DPA was because of its strategic situation at the entrance of the Red Sea, its suitable maritime characteristics and its being the sea outlet to landlocked Ethiopia. Djibouti also serves other Horn of Africa countries and provides bunkering for vessels passing through the Red sea.It is to be concluded that this latest contract would be as if laying an economic and commercial siege to the Yemeni port of Aden.
Establishment of a competing container terminal at Djibouti port which is closer to international maritime routes could pose serious threat to Aden Port.

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