Businessweek: Djibouti Plans LNG, Oil Terminals to Develop Regional Trade

Djibouti will start work on liquefied-natural-gas and crude-oil terminals by March as part of a $5 billion plan to develop regional trade ties, Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority Chairman Aboubaker Omar Hadi said.

Construction of the two facilities will add to four new ports already being built that will quadruple cargo handling in the Horn of Africa nation to almost 80 million metric tons annually, Omar Hadi said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa to be broadcast today. Durban, South Africa, one of the continent’s busiest ports, handles more than 80 million tons of cargo a year, according to Transnet National Ports Authority.

“What the Djibouti Ports and Freezones Authority wants to achieve is to unleash East Africa’s economic potential,” Omar Hadi said. “We are trying to build the economy of the country to serve the neighboring countries in foreign trade.”
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