The $590m Doraleh mega port, Djibouti’s new ultra-modern mega port was opened earlier this week. This is with a view to facilitate the country’s efforts towards providing world class shipping platform.

Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman, Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) said this move was Djibouti’s confirmation of its position as a major trading hub for the continent.

The project started in 2015 was as a result of joint funding by Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) and China Merchant Holding (CMHC) for the purposes of connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. The state of the art port is installed with equipment manufactured by Chinese firm ZPMC.

The mega new port has been completed simultaneously with the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, a new 752km track linking Ethiopia’s capital with the Port of Djibouti.

Djibouti is positioned at the centre of world trade routes, connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. The port is a gateway to one of the fastest growing regions of the world with 30 000 ships transiting the port each year.

The port is one of four new ports in the Horn of Africa nation co-funded by China to establish Africa’s largest free-trade zone that can handle $7 billion worth of goods every year, according to the statement by the ports authority earlier on this week.

The mass terminal of the Doraleh port can handle 2m in cargo tonnes per year. It also offers space to store 100,000 tonnes of fertilizer, grains and warehouses for other goods, as well as handle 6 million tonnes of cargo per year with 40,000 slots for vehicles at the RO-RO terminal.

Djibouti’s is the main point of entry for goods from Asia, and also serves landlocked Ethiopia which recently opened the Chinese funded 752 km-Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway that links to the port.