Port Expansion Aims to Lift Regional Trade Volumes

Djibouti's port expansion programme continues to develop a complex that has grown from a single general-cargo harbour into a set of specialised facilities.

The components serve distinct traffic. The Doraleh container terminal handles containerised cargo. A multipurpose port handles break-bulk and vehicles. An oil terminal handles petroleum products, including fuel destined for Ethiopia. Specialised facilities at Tadjourah and Goubet were built for potash export from the Ethiopian side of the Danakil and for salt. A livestock export terminal handles animals bound for Gulf markets.

That specialisation matters commercially. Livestock, potash, containers and fuel require different infrastructure, different handling and different dwell arrangements, and mixing them in a single facility degrades performance for all of them.

Rail is the corridor's other half. The electrified standard-gauge line between Addis Ababa and Djibouti opened to commercial traffic in 2018, replacing a metre-gauge railway dating to the colonial era. Rail shifts freight off a road corridor that carries heavy truck traffic, and its utilisation rate is one of the corridor's key performance indicators.

The free zone adds a second business line. Warehousing, light assembly and re-export operations allow Djibouti to capture value beyond transit fees, and the same strategic position that makes the country a transit point also makes it attractive for regional distribution.