$120 Million being expended by the Affreximbank to Djibouti’s Ports Development

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

Photo Credit: Afreximbank

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Freetown, Sierra Leone– It was endorsed after a gathering between Afreximbank President Professor – Benedict Oramah and Omar Guelleh – President of Djibouti on the ongoing Summit of Heads of State of the African Union. It’s a fraction of a cumulative facility proportion of $155 million for work on the Free Trade Zone. The balance of $35 million is being subsidized through Banque pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Mer Rouge (BCIMR) of Djibouti. Revenue from the facility will be utilized for the culmination of the Damerjog Oil Jfromty, which will invest in marine connectivity to the Free Trade Zone, and for the building of a 150, 000m³ first storage depot/oil tank farm, as well as for other costs associated to the projects.

This is Afreximbank’s primary pact in Djibouti in alliance with GHIH and the administration. It is earmarked at funding the improvement of a trade enabling infrastructure to boost Djibouti in attaining its proposal to evolve a regional trans-shipment and logistics hub. It…similarly boosts intra-African trade, suggesting that Djibouti’s economy is primarily established on the maintenance of marine services to neighboring nations – Ethiopia and Somalia, by giving them a gateway for ocean-borne shipment.

Considerably, the establishment is giving assistance and ability to SOMAGEC – a Moroccan construction company which is Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Champion. Under the Intra-African Trade Champion programme, Afreximbank supports African businesses to commit infrastructure projects in other African nations and assists them to strive globally with transnational performers.

Professor Oramah said: “The crucial contribution of this landmark deal lies in its potential to deliver a boost to the development of the industrial capacity of Djibouti and its neighbors by assuring the implementation of critical trade enabling infrastructure to support bulk handling of liquid products. The establishment of a jetty and bulk port in the Djibouti Free Trade Zone will add significant value to Djibouti’s role as a trans-shipment hub for neighboring landlocked countries. Afreximbank is very proud to contribute to such a crucial project for Djibouti and the wider region.”

“We are equally proud that the project is being implemented by Moroccan EPC contractor SOMAGEC, a testimony to Afreximbank’s support to African contractors undertaking large infrastructure projects on the continent. Our Intra-African trade agenda will continue to emphasize support to African contractors to enable them win and execute such major infrastructure projects across the continent” he expanded.

Afreximbank has lived by a key contributor of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) market in Africa with financing and facilitation interventions totaling $13 billion in the last 6 years. This encompasses financing of more than $7 billion worth of EPC-related transactions and issuance of trade instruments worth more than $6 billion to support and facilitate the award of contracts to African contractors.

GHIH’s Chairman – Aboubaker Hadi Omar: “We are very proud of our collaboration with Afreximbank, a dynamic African multilateral and
transaction driven institution, and the continuous valuable technical support of the EPC SOMAGEC. In line with our multi-year infrastructure investment strategy aiming to position our country as a logistical and commercial hub for the sub-region, we’re meeting this growing demand by delivering the infrastructure necessary, to support and enhance the economic and efficient movement of petroleum products in the region whilst developing a core economic belt with Ethiopia and ultimately an industrial base for East and Central Africa.”

Likewise, it indicates that our Head of State‘s vision “Djibouti 2035” is taking place, therefore, transforming Djibouti as regional logistic hub,” he amplified. GHIH, a state-owned investment holding vehicle of the Government of Djibouti, is accountable for logistics and transportation infrastructure. It clasps attention in about 18 of the largest state-owned companies in the nation, with a portfolio that comprises firms, in shipping, bunkering, management of free zones, storage, road transport and port security.

For New Africa Business News (NABN) Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent