Ethiopia, Djibouti’s biggest port client, expects a boom in its import and export activities as Djibouti gets ready to construct a new port at Tadjoura to handle the growing demands of the landlocked Horn of Africa country.
A bill allowing for private operators in the transport and delivery of import and export goods is to be debated by stakeholders on Tuesday, August 17, 2010.
A new directive issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) mandates that importers pay the state owned monopoly, Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) SC, in dollars for freight services starting July 1, 2010.
The Minister of Communications and Transportation (MoCT), Driba Kuma, has encouraged the private sector to use the multimodal transportation system, which is to be fully operational beginning July 7, 2010.
The government of Djibouti backed off, last week, from its plans to grant exclusive rights to a private consortium, which would have undertaken the operation of container stuffing and unstuffing inside its own premises, sources disclosed to Fortune.
The government gave a 50 million Br vehicle supply contract to a Dubai company, dropping offers made by established local suppliers.
A crisis is looming between Ethiopian authorities and their counterparts in Djibouti, following a new directive that is deemed to have given a monopolistic position to an alliance of private companies on the operation of stripping, stuffing, and unstuffing of containers.
Authorities at the Revenues and Customs Authority instructed on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, all agencies operating inside the newly built dry ports at Modjo and Semera to begin delivering containers imported by private companies, reliable sources disclosed.
Consta is anticipating the lifting of the ban on it and to resume construction of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway before the end of this month.
The Export and Import Bank of China (EXIM) has shown a keen interest in financing 240 million dollars of Ethiopian Shipping Lines S.C (ESL) loan demands for the procurement of nine new ships with an aggregate carrying capacity of 300,000 tonnes.