Ejected from the Doraleh terminal on February 22, 2018, DP World has since conducted three offensives under the interested gazes of Beijing and Washington.
First, a judicial maneuver with the London courts on the grounds of illegal expropriation. The arbitration procedure will go to the end, the port operator has ruled out any possibility of settlement outside the London jurisdiction. DP World won the 1.6 TEU concession in 2006 but has been in litigation with its partner since 2012. The London Arbitration Court had already ruled last year, exonerating the Dubai company of any poor performance of its contract in response to Djibouti’s allegations of non-compliance with the specifications.
If he says he is confident about this first front, DP Word has nonetheless opened a second front that would guarantee him to maintain his presence on a capital area. The nodal point of this axis is the port of Berbera, through an announced investment of 442 million dollars in a port terminal concession that it controls at 51% alongside the State of Somaliland (30%) and the Ethiopia (19%). An entity will be created to manage the interests of the three partners.
Landlocked country, Ethiopia is committed to build 260 km to connect this future terminal to its closest border. Addis Ababa thus reduces a high dependence on Djibouti.
The other axis of this counteroffensive of DP World is media. An immense communication campaign is being conducted in the context of a report by the firm Allan & Associates and a study by the firm Exx Africa, which relativize the miracle of Djibouti.
Far from giving up, the State of Djibouti is also fighting back on several fronts. On the port side, the most urgent would be to find a reliable partner to take over the vacant place by the operator Emirati. If the French CMA-CGM has views, nothing indicates that this expression of interest will have a continuation. This is especially so since the Somaliland authorities say they are also negotiating with the French shipowner for a $ 660 million terminal project.
While waiting for a new partner for the DCT terminal, Djibouti can look forward to the announcement of Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) to increase by one third its transhipment traffic on the disputed terminal.
These port deals on the Horn of Africa are closely followed by Washington and Beijing, two powers seeking to take control of the Bab El Mandeb Strait, the world’s fourth-largest oil transit route, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Africa. Aden, located not far from the American base of Camp Lemonnier, the largest in Africa (4,000 men) however forced to cohabit with an effective Chinese presence since 2014.
Rising power in the region, China weighs on local geopolitics
for investing $ 4 billion in the rail link between Djibouti and Ethiopia. Some 70% of the “friendly” loan used to build this infrastructure comes from Eximbank China, which is working on the new Silk Road project to connect Chinese factories with energy sources and markets. carriers.
