Djibouti is a republic in East Africa on the Bab al-Mandab Strait. It
borders Eritrea to the north, Ethiopia to the west and south, Somalia or
the internationally unrecognized Somaliland to the southeast, and the
Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to the east. Yemen is a few kilometers away
on the other side of the Red Sea. With an area of 23,200 km², the state
is about the size of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Djibouti
gained independence from France in 1977. The population consists of
about 60% Somali and 35% Afar.
1 Djibouti
2 Ali Sabieh
3 Tadjoura
4 Obock
5 Dikhil
Cruise passengers can travel up to 72 hours without a visa for
tourist purposes.
Ordinary passport holders can apply for an
electronic visa for up to 30 days. This only entitles entry via the
airport. Only holders of service or diplomatic passports on a business
trip can get the visa-on-arrival.
entry requirements
The
Embassy of Djibouti, Kurfürstenstraße 84, 10787 Berlin is responsible
for Germans and Austrians. Tel.: +49(0) 30 263 901 57 (consular
section). 2 application forms, 2 passport photos, hotel booking or
"lettre d'hébergement" must be submitted. Processing time max. 1 week,
usually 24 hours. Open: Mon.-Fri. 8.30-16.30. Price: Tourist visa: up to
14 days €10, up to 30 days €20.
Swiss citizens should send the same
documents to Section consulaire de l'Ambassade de la République de
Djibouti, Chemin Camille-VIDART 15, 1202 Genève (Bus 5: Vermont. Bus 8:
IUT.). Tel.: +41 (22) 749 1090. Personal collection only by appointment.
Open: Mon.-Thurs. 10-12
In countries without a Djiboutian
representation, the visa can be applied for at French consulates.
eVisa
Entry with an eVisa has been possible since April 30, 2018;
not only at the airport, but also upon arrival at all border crossings.
The application on the Internet, payment exclusively with Visa or
Mastercard; Processing time should be 72 hours.
Customs
regulations
The importation of any kind of pornographic material is
prohibited. Alcohol is permitted up to one liter per person. Possession
and export of kath leaves, the regional folk drug, is permitted. The
active substance cathinone is subject to the narcotics law in Germany
(and many other countries), more than 30 g are considered "not a small
amount".
Airplane
From Frankfurt you can fly cheaply with
Ethiopian (via Addis Abbeba or Jeddah) or Emirates via Dubai. Flight
times with Kenya Airways, whose flights go via Nairobi, are
comparatively long.
The revived Air Djibouti, based at the
airport, has been offering passenger flights again since 2016. Central
African cities and Dubai are served.
The Aérodrome de Chabelley,
ten kilometers south of the capital, serves only the French and American
military.
Rail
In October 2016, the Djibouti-Ethiopia railway,
built with Chinese help, was opened in standard gauge. The 756 km route
goes from Sebeta/Addis Ababa via Awash (branch line to Weldiya/Hara
Gebeya under construction until 2018) and Miesso to Djibouti. The
scheduled journey time for the fully electrified route is ten hours.
Trains depart every other day at 8am and must be booked in Addis 24
hours in advance. Foreigners pay double.
Bus
car/motorcycle/bicycle
The armed border dispute with Eritrea in 2008
was settled by arbitration at the end of 2015, and a normalization of
the border regime between the two states was to be expected. Since June
2017, shootings have resumed in the border area after the peacekeeping
force left. Travel north of Obock should be avoided.
Crossing the
land border at Loyada (لويادا) into Somaliland in 2016 is described as
having no problems.
Ship
There are connections to Yemen and
Berbera in Somaliland with local ships. Corresponding trips are to be
inquired about in the port, due to the poor security situation it is
probably not advisable to use them.
Because of the danger of
piracy off Somalia, the region is dangerous for sailors. Current
information is available from the Maritime Security Centre.
Buses/minibuses run without a timetable. Departure is when the
vehicle - according to local understanding - is "full". Minibuses stop
when waved.
Taxi prices are posted at larger stands (including at
the airport). A night surcharge of 50% is usual.
Official languages are French and Arabic, common colloquial languages are Somali and Afar. French is rarely spoken outside of the capital.
Exchange rate €1 just over 215 Djibouti Franc (DJF) (as of Feb 2021).
Banks and many smaller shops are closed on Friday and Saturday and
open on Sunday. Long lunch breaks are common. If credit cards are
accepted - which actually only happens in the capital - you usually only
take Visa, Mastercard is not accepted. When exchanging cash (which is
difficult outside the capital) for dollar bills, only bills (in good
condition) from the post-2000 series will be accepted.
The culinary delights of Djibouti are determined by influences from
neighboring countries. Arabic-Yemeni flavors can also be found.
Breakfast is usually a hearty meal with tea. Based on a flatbread,
lahoh, similar to Ethiopian injera but thinner, is often eaten with
meat, offal or honey or clarified butter (niter kebbeh). Garoobey is an
oatmeal flavored with milk and cumin.
Lunch and dinner often
consist of a variety of stews (maraq). Fah-fah is beef soup. Rice is
served with plantains or meat. Pasta (baasto) comes with very thick
sauces. The hot spice mix berbere and, for those who can afford it,
saffron are indispensable. As in Somalia, when guests are visiting,
dining rooms are often "fumigated" with incense in special burners
(dabqaad).
The dessert halwo (halwa) is mainly served on special
occasions.
Takes place mainly in the European quarter of the capital.
There are about forty hotels in the capital, very few of which are
inexpensive.
In other places there are hardly any accommodations.
Near the few natural beauties there are a few campements that are
specially set up for tourist needs.
By African standards, Djibouti is a safe country. Warnings are only
given against occasional thieves and pickpockets in bazaars.
"Non-essential individual travel to remote areas of Djibouti is
discouraged." Areas along the border with Eritrea are mined.
Americans and French prefer to practice killing people at 1 Bay of Arta
(11° 35′ 18″ N 42° 51′ 17″ E), it is advisable to avoid this area.
Many native men chew khat from midday, which can lead to impaired
reactions (also in traffic) or unusual behavior, which is lively at
first and requires communication, and then lethargic after about two
hours.
There is a risk of malaria (from Plasmodium falciparum) at
best during the wet season from November to April.
Daily temperatures of over 40 °C are the norm from May to October.
People are reluctant to be photographed, and permission should be
asked in any case. In principle, military material may not be included.
Consumption of alcohol in public, except in licensed restaurants, is
punishable by law. For women, hijab and loose abaya are appropriate
attire.
Post: Letters to all EU countries and Switzerland are
considered “Zone 1” and cost in 2018 for up to 20g: 220 DJF, 100g: 675
DJF.
Like Somalia, present-day Djibouti came under the rule of Arab
sultans between the 7th and 10th centuries, who Islamized the nomadic
pastoral population. The French strategic interest in the area was
awakened by the construction of the Suez Canal (1859-1869). In 1862,
France had acquired the Obock area and the coastal area. With this it
wanted to create a counterweight to the British military port in Aden.
In 1892, France took possession of the previously autonomous sultanates
of the city of Djibouti. In 1896 Djibouti was declared a French colony
on the French Somali Coast with Djibouti as the capital. 1917 saw the
completion of a 781-kilometer railway line to Addis Ababa (see rail
transport in Ethiopia). The area was also of economic interest to
France, as Djibouti became the most important export port for
neighboring Ethiopia. In the period between the two world wars, the
interior of the country was developed.
In 1946 the colony was
transformed into a French overseas territory. According to the Loi
Lamine Guèye law of 1946, all citizens of the Overseas Territories had
the right to vote in elections to the French Parliament, so that women
had the right to vote for elections to this body. However, elections
were held in two classes (collèges).
In 1956 Djibouti was granted
limited autonomy by the loi-cadre Defferre. Only this law guaranteed
universal suffrage. In 1957 a separate cabinet and territorial
parliament were formed. While the majority of the Afar want to retain
this status, many Issa strove for independence and the connection of
Djibouti to Greater Somalia. The Issa leader Mahamoud Harbi in
particular campaigned for these goals. In a referendum in 1958, the
majority of the population voted to remain with France. This meant that
the Afar were favored by French colonial rule. A new referendum on March
19, 1967 led to tensions between neighboring Ethiopia and Somalia. The
Afar sympathized with France and Ethiopia, the Issa with Somalia.
Pressure from the French authorities eased the situation again and since
then the area has been called the "French Afar and Issa Territory"
(Territoire Français des Afars et des Issas).
After repeated
unrest in 1972, France granted extensive self-government. In 1974, the
UN and several African countries demanded independence. After another
referendum, independence from France was achieved on June 27, 1977
(national holiday), with the Afar largely abstaining. Hassan Gouled
Aptidon became the country's first president. Although the Issa
politician formed a cabinet with all ethnic groups - the prime minister
and foreign minister were Afar - Afar have repeatedly expressed
dissatisfaction with their secondary political situation, which has led
to various government crises and reshuffles. Universal suffrage
regardless of sex was confirmed in 1977.
After his clear election
victory in 1981, Gouled decided to take a firm stance, declaring
Djibouti a one-party state under his Issa-led Rassemblement Populaire
pour le Progrès (RPP) party and banning all other parties.
In the
years that followed, the domestic political situation consolidated. On
March 21, 1981, the President signed a 10-year friendship treaty with
neighboring Ethiopia. Since 1986, Djibouti has acted as a peace mediator
between Ethiopia and Somalia. From 1988 Djibouti became a host country
for Somali refugees, after which relations with Somalia deteriorated. In
1989, a catastrophic flood destroyed 70% of Djibouti City.
In
1991, fighting between Afar rebels and government troops began in the
north of the country. The successes of the rebels prompted the
government to reintroduce a multi-party system in 1992. The civil war
was largely ended with a peace agreement in December 1994, and some of
the rebels remained active until 2001. President Gouled resigned in 1999
for health reasons. He was succeeded by Ismail Omar Guelleh of the RPP.
In mid-2008, Djiboutian troops repeatedly clashed with Eritrean
troops in the disputed border area around Ras Doumeira. The US and the
United Nations Security Council accused Eritrea of military aggression
against Djibouti.
The diverse desert landscape of Djibouti encloses the Bay of
Tadjoura, which extends far into the country, in the shape of a
horseshoe. The country was once below sea level, which is indicated by
numerous coral reefs. The coast and the offshore islands, coral reefs
and underwater volcanoes are considered a diver's paradise. Djibouti is
heavily volcanic; the volcano Ardoukoba was only formed in 1978. In
terms of landscape, the territory consists in part of the large
subsidence field of the arid Afar lowlands, some of which sink far below
sea level. The greatest depth is in Lake Assal at 155 m below sea level.
A few kilometers to the east, Lake Ghoubet merges with the Gulf of
Tadjoura.
The Danakil Mountains to the north consist of
crystalline bulk rocks and younger basalt caps. They reach their highest
peak on the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea in Mousa Alli at 2028 m. In
the south of the country, plains and basalt covers are predominant. In
its drainless depressions and salt pans, the water of the wadis, which
only occasionally flows in, evaporates; bizarre salt and gypsum
formations line the shores of Lake Assal (57 km²) and Lake Abbe. It is
fed via Lake Gamari by the Ethiopian river Awash, which - coming from
the west - loses itself in a system of several uninhabited salt basins.
Since the country is relatively small, it is located in a uniform
climatic zone and does not have any major climatic differences. The only
significant fluctuations are related to the altitude of the respective
starting point. There are essentially two distinctions here: the
coastline and the depressions, and the slightly higher regions in the
north and south.
On the coast, it's high summer by European
standards all year round, and Djibouti City is one of Africa's hottest
cities. In January, temperatures in the Djibouti area range between 27
and 30 °C, while at night it cools down to around 20-22 °C. From April,
temperatures start to skyrocket to reach 39-42°C from June to August. At
night, the temperature usually does not drop below 30 °C. Temperatures
only begin to settle around the 30 °C mark again from October. The heat
records in Djibouti are 45.9 °C for the months of June and July and 45.8
°C for August. The absolute minimum is 16 °C, measured on January and
February nights.
Humidity tends to be high all year round, with
70-75% in the winter months and a small dip to around 45% in midsummer.
This often makes the heat unbearable. Rainfall is limited throughout the
year, with an average of just 15 days of rain a year, totaling
140-170mm. The sparse rain is most likely to fall in winter or during
thunderstorms.
Sea temperatures in winter range between 25-27 °C,
in summer they often reach 30 °C. Morning winter fog is common on the
coasts. The depressions and the salt pans, especially around Lake Assal,
have similar climatic conditions. The hinterland, some of which is 500
to almost 2000 m high (e.g. Danakilberge) is a bit wetter, but there is
only precipitation here in the form of rare downpours. The temperatures
continue to fall at night, during the day the values are roughly the
same as on the coast, except at higher altitudes.
Due to the lack of rain, thornbush savannahs, semi-deserts and full
deserts cover most of the country. Acacias, thujas, junipers, wild figs
and olive trees can only be found at altitudes over 1200 m. A thorn tree
and succulent forest covers the hillsides of Mousa Alli. In the Forêt du
Day nature park, many of the otherwise disappeared plant species have
been preserved.
As in other arid regions in Africa, gazelles,
antelopes, zebras, hyenas and jackals live in Djibouti. Lake Abbe in the
southwest is known for the numerous ibises, pelicans and, above all,
flamingos that can be found here.
Demographics
Djibouti had 988,000 inhabitants in 2020. Annual population growth
was +1.5%. An excess of births (birth rate: 20.5 per 1000 inhabitants
vs. death rate: 6.9 per 1000 inhabitants) contributed to population
growth. The number of births per woman was statistically 2.6 in 2020.
The life expectancy of residents of Djibouti from birth was 67.5 years
in 2020 (women: 69.8, men: 65.5). The median age of the population in
2020 was 26.6 years.
The official languages are Arabic and
French, but the main languages spoken are Somali and Afar, both of which
belong to the lowland East Cushitic languages. 94% of the population are
Sunni Muslims. The small Christian minority is mostly Ethiopian
Orthodox; however, there is also a Catholic diocese of Djibouti.
The two main ethnic groups in Djibouti are the Somali (60% of the total
population) in the south and the Afar (35%) in the north and west of the
country. Most Djiboutian Somalis belong to the Issa and Gadabursi
sub-clans, both of which belong to the Dir clan; the Isaaq make up a
smaller proportion. The Afar are an ethnic group whose territory is
divided between Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea. There are occasional
ethnic tensions between the two communities; the Issa have dominated the
country politically since independence, while some Afar feel
marginalized.
Europeans (mostly French) and Arabs (especially
Yemenis) form a minority of about 5% of the population. In addition,
there are tens of thousands of people from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea
in the country. The Somalis usually get asylum because of civil war in
their country; among the Ethiopians (mainly from the regions of Oromia,
Somali and from the former Wallo) and the Eritreans are both refugees
due to human rights violations and immigrants for economic reasons.
UNHCR operates a refugee camp in Ali Adde. In 2017, 12.1% of the
population was foreign-born.
In 2021, 78 percent of Djibouti's residents lived in cities. The
originally nomadic country has undergone rapid urbanization since the
colonial era. As early as 1960, more people lived in cities than in the
countryside. Today, depending on the calculation method, between 70% and
88% of the population live in cities; the official result of the 2009
census showed that 577,000 of the 818,159 inhabitants live in urban
areas.
By far the largest city in the country is Djibouti City,
which has grown from 40,000 inhabitants in 1960 to around 600,000 today.
Despite all the problems brought by the rapid growth of Djibouti City,
it is considered the most dynamic and wealthiest city in the Horn of
Africa, mainly because of the modern and active port and the purchasing
power of Djiboutian currency. In the first 20 years after independence,
the smaller towns grew more slowly than the national average. The
proportion of small towns in the total population has only been growing
since the late 1990s and is now around 10%.
The country's five
regions are very poorly urbanized, with none of the regions having more
than 50% urban population. As a rule, nomadic people outside the capital
make up the majority of the population.
Djibouti is a highly underdeveloped country; the unemployment rate
was officially 60% in 2005. The pronounced rural exodus to Djibouti City
is causing urban unemployment to continue to rise, and around half of
the city's population lives in slums. Hardly any people die of hunger in
Djibouti, but in slums like Arhiba, most residents don't have enough to
eat. A dock worker earns 500 Djiboutian francs (DJF) a day, which
corresponds to around 2.05 euros (as of November 2010). A loaf of bread
costs 20 DJF, in contrast, other food (e.g. fruit) and goods have to be
imported at high cost. Djibouti is ranked 166th in the 2019 Human
Development Index.
The autocratically ruled Djibouti is still
considered politically "stable", so that several states established
military presences, including the United States, France, Italy, Spain,
Japan and Turkey. West German soldiers are also temporarily stationed in
Djibouti as part of the Atalanta anti-piracy mission. In addition to
Saudi Arabia, China is also building a military base. China is investing
billions in Djibouti's infrastructure, such as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti
railway from Ethiopia to Djibouti. The railway was opened in October
2016.
Education in Djibouti is heavily influenced by France. Although official efforts in the 1990s led to an increase in the number of students, the education system remains below the expectations of the population and the needs of a developing country. The school system is based on the French model, but compulsory schooling still does not exist. In 2007, there were 81 public primary schools, 24 registered private primary schools, 12 secondary schools and 2 vocational schools in Djibouti. The illiteracy rate was around 30% (22% for men and 42% for women).
There is no social legislation and the health system is poorly
developed. Overall, Djibouti spent 8.5% of economic output on health in
2014. Life expectancy at birth was 61.6 years for newborns in the period
from 2010 to 2015 (women: 63.2 years, men: 60.0 years). The fertility
rate is about five children per woman. The doctor density is 18 doctors
per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2016, nearly 1.5% of the population was
infected with HIV, giving Djibouti one of the lower rates in Africa.
Almost 29.5% of children under the age of 5 were malnourished.
In
2016, the infant mortality rate in Djibouti was 6.4%. In 1990 it was
11.8% and in 1976 it was 17.3%.
According to the 1992 constitution, Djibouti is a presidential
republic. The head of state is the president, who is directly elected by
the people for five years and is also the supreme commander of the armed
forces. He appoints the head of government and his cabinet. The
country's first president was Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who ruled the
country from 1977 to 1999. He was succeeded by his nephew Ismail Omar
Guelleh. In 2016, according to official figures, he was elected for a
third term with 87%. In the April 9, 2021 elections, Guelleh received
97.44% of the vote. The opposition boycotted most of them.
Legislative power rests with the National Assembly, which has 65 members
directly elected for five-year terms. The ruling Rassemblement Populaire
pour le Progrès (RPP) party was the only legal unified party from 1981
to 1992 and still dominates the country's politics today. Critics
therefore regard Djibouti as a de facto one-party state and accuse the
government of authoritarian tendencies. In the 2003 general election,
the opposition parties united in the Union pour l'Alternance
Démocratique won almost 37% of the vote, but all 65 seats went through
the first-past-the-post system to the RPP-led Union pour la Majorité
Présidentielle (UMP) with 62.7% of the vote . The parliamentary
elections that followed in 2008 and 2013 were therefore boycotted by
most of the opposition parties. In 2014, they concluded an agreement
with the government to implement electoral reforms, but this was not
adhered to, so that the 2018 elections were also boycotted for the most
part. The ruling UMP increased its majority to 57 out of 65 seats. The
opposition Union for Democracy and Justice – Djiboutian Democratic Party
(UDJ-PDD) won seven seats, and the Center for Unified Democrats (CDU)
one.
The legal system is based on Islamic law; the supreme court
is the supreme court.
The armed forces of Djibouti have a force of approximately 4000 men.
The land forces, the largest contingent, consist of 3,500 soldiers,
seven regiments and 48 armored vehicles. The Navy has six patrol boats.
The Air Force owns two transport aircraft (Cessna 208 and Let L-410) and
three helicopters (1 Eurocopter AS 355 and 2 Mil Mi-8/17).
In
addition to the troops of Djibouti, foreign contingents are stationed in
the country, including the 5e Régiment interarmes d'outre-mer (5e RIAOM)
of the French army de Terre. In addition to France, as part of the
Forces françaises stationnées à Djibouti (FFDj) (with around 2000
soldiers; 2012), and the USA (Camp Lemonnier), Japan and Germany also
maintain a permanent base there. In December 2015, China announced the
construction of a military base in Djibouti and reported in July 2017
that it had sent military personnel to put it into operation.
The
German Navy has been deploying soldiers to the Horn of Africa since 2008
as part of Operation Atalanta. The units are relocated to the Bab
al-Mandab for a period of several months in order to monitor shipping
traffic from the southern Red Sea via the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of
Oman.
Germany has been involved since December 22, 2008 by a
decision of the Bundestag on December 19, 2008. Since then, the mandate
has been repeatedly extended. On May 27, 2020, the Bundestag decided to
continue the deployment of the Bundeswehr in the Horn of Africa until
May 31, 2021 with a maximum mandate of 400 soldiers. The naval forces of
the naval association, together with the coalition partners, secure the
sea lines of communication by checking suspicious ships. The aim is to
cut off supplies and escape routes from suspected pirates or terrorist
groups.
During the colonial period, the administrative structure of the area
followed the centralized example of France. Four military districts were
established in addition to the capital district. This structure was
retained after independence, with the districts headed by civilian
administrators who represented the central government in their
respective districts. The first attempts at decentralization were
abandoned in 1979 in favor of national unity, and a short time later
Djibouti became a one-party state in which decentralization played no
role.
In addition to the introduction of a multi-party system,
decentralization was also part of the peace treaty of February 7, 2000,
which ended the Djiboutian civil war. International donors such as the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the United Nations
Development Program also called for them. In 2002, the Law on
Decentralization and the Status of Regions was passed. It provides for
the division of the country into five regions and the capital Djibouti,
which has a special status (ville); the capital itself is divided into
three municipalities. The first municipal and regional elections were
held on March 10, 2006. Since then, the municipalities and regions have
had an elected representative body and an executive body determined by
this representative body. Civil status, road building, the
administration of markets and the courts of traditional common law now
fall within the competence of the regions and municipalities. However,
there are still questions about the financing of these bodies and there
is a lack of competent staff.
The insufficiently developed road network has a length of 3100
kilometers, almost 400 kilometers of which are paved. The most important
and busiest route leads from Djibouti City to the Ethiopian capital
Addis Ababa. It represents the economic lifeline of the country.
The capital has a modern deep-water port with a free port and container
terminal. Thanks to numerous investors from the Arabian Peninsula,
significant extensions to the port facilities in Doraleh have recently
been built. Since its completion in April 2009, the country has had one
of the largest container terminals in the region. The port is developing
into the most important in East Africa.
See also: List of
lighthouses in Djibouti
On the southern edge of the capital lies
Djibouti International Airport, which connects the country with the
outside world. In addition to the small civil airport, it also serves as
an important US air force base.
The 756-kilometer standard-gauge
Djibouti-Addis Ababa railway line (100 kilometers of which is in
Djibouti), which was built by the People's Republic of China, has been
running again from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa since it opened
in October 2016. It replaces the narrow-gauge line opened in 1917, which
had been closed beyond Dire Dawa since 2008.
The economy of Djibouti is mainly based on the service sector.
According to estimates, 80.2% of the total GDP was generated in this
sector in 2017. This is mainly due to the fact that Djibouti is a hub in
world trade due to its location at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Agriculture, on the other hand, only had a share of 2.4%, but in the
same year 78% of the population was employed in agriculture. Industry
accounted for 17.3% of GDP. Industry is dominated by small businesses
that produce food, beverages, textiles and furniture, among other
things. Djibouti would like to become an industrial location with the
help of Chinese loans. For example, investments flowed into the
construction of a railway line from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to
Djibouti, into the expansion of the port and into a special economic
zone. However, Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Professor of International Studies
at the Hong Kong Baptist University, doubts “that Djibouti can be
anything more than a transit center for Ethiopia and the region. The
population is very small and it will take a long time to train enough
people to work in industrial companies.”
In 2016, the state
budget included expenditure equivalent to USD 885.9 million, compared
with income equivalent to USD 685.7 million. This results in a budget
deficit of 10.6% of GDP. Public debt was 40.5% of GDP in 2014. The most
important sources of income are the payments from France, Italy, Japan,
the USA and China for the military units stationed in the country in the
amount of around 120 million US dollars.
The unemployment rate in
2017 was around 40%, making it one of the highest in the world. In 2014
it was still estimated at 60%.
Due to the generally dry climate and recurring droughts, agriculture
in Djibouti is only possible to a very limited extent. About 9% of the
area can be used as pasture land, the extensive livestock farming is
largely carried out by nomads. Vegetables, figs and coffee are grown on
a modest scale.
Up to 80% of the food is imported from abroad,
especially from Ethiopia. According to a report by the World Bank,
Djibouti is one of the countries with the greatest food insecurity and
high vulnerability to food price increases, along with Haiti.
To
increase its food security, Djibouti has acquired farmland in Sudan,
Ethiopia's Oromia region and Malawi.
Natural resources and energy
Salt from the numerous salt lakes is traditionally mined as a commodity
and sold in the highlands of Ethiopia (cf. Amole); however, Djibouti's
own salt supply depends on imports. A US company is planning to
industrialize salt production.
The energy supply is based
entirely on imported oil.
Tourism is still in its infancy. With the expansion of the relevant
infrastructure, transit travelers in particular should be persuaded to
stay for several days. There are good development opportunities,
especially in the area of fishing and diving tourism.
In 2010
almost 51,000 tourists visited the country. Tourism revenue was $31
million in 2015.
In 2016, Djibouti imported goods worth USD 992 million, mainly food,
machinery, clothing, petroleum and products mainly from China, Saudi
Arabia and Indonesia.
In 2015, it exported $146 million worth of
goods, mostly hides, skins and other livestock products, mainly to
Somalia, the United States and Yemen.
It is estimated that at
least 15 percent of Djiboutian tax revenues come from the trade in the
leaf drug khat, of which (as of February 2021) 15 tons are imported into
Djibouti every day.