DJIBOUTI (Halbeeg News) – Djibouti government this week inked billions worth deal with a Chinese port operator to expand its port.
China’s biggest port operator, China Merchants Group will carry out a $3bn expansion of the East African micro-state’s century-old port.
Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA), said on Twitter that the project would “profoundly transform our capital and create numerous economic opportunities in the years to come”.
As well as an expansion of the port, the project will create the “East Africa International Special Business Zone”.
The $513m first phase of the project, which involves the construction of an exhibition centre and a four-star hotel for the zone, began on 8 October.
China Merchants, which already owns a 23.5% stake in the port, said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that Djibouti had “a stable geopolitical environment and the largest deep water port in East Africa”.
China’s involvement in Djibouti has been growing in recent years. The country hosts China’s only overseas military base, opened in 2017, and it is the terminus for Chinese-built, $3.4bn railway from Ethiopia, China’s closest ally in the region.
Discussion about this post