Djibouti City News
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DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/06/19
Djibouti’s banking regulator has unveiled a series of reforms that seek to improve the efficiency and health of the country’s lenders, and expand sharia-compliant financial services.
The regulatory overhaul, which is set to be rolled out this year, includes plans to improve operational efficiency and set up a new credit data system to help banks manage credit risk.
The measures are in line with a raft of reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Djibouti (Banque Centrale de Djibouti, BCD) in recent years aimed at strengthening the position of local lenders and increasing transparency.
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CHINA, 2016/06/18
Djibouti has recently inked an agreement with China to streamline the East African country’s Customs systems, in a bid to consolidate its position as a logistics and trade centre for the region.
The agreement comes as Djibouti channels some $14bn worth of investment – inclunding over $1bn worth of concessional financing from Chinese banks – for a spate of major infrastructure projects, ranging from free trade zones to a new railway and port facilities.
The new Silk Road
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DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/06/13
East African states are tightening controls on used car imports in a drive to cut pollution and boost the local manufacturing industry.
Kenya recently announced that it would scale up its used car emissions laws, joining Uganda which has by presently introduced related taxes.
Cabinet Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Transport James Macharia said that the policy would any minute at this time be in place and that motorists found to be in breach of the law risk having their cars deregistered.
“By the end of the year, we will require vehicles countrywide to undergo a mandatory inspection to determine their level of toxic emissions,” said Mr Macharia.
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BOTSWANA, 2016/05/15
An event dedicated to the development of the African aviation industry will take place next month in Tenerife (26-28 June) to encourage the launch of new air services to, from and within the African continent.
Routes Africa 2016 will help to improve African connectivity by bringing together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss next air services. Around 250 route development professionals are expected to attend the forum which was founded ten years ago to stimulate increase in the industry.
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BOTSWANA, 2016/05/13
The collapse of virtual borders is one of the majority remarkable things to have happened in our lifetimes. In the world of cyberspace, time and distance have become almost peripheral considerations at the same time as it comes to doing business. Services from software development to accounting can be delivered across the world in the blink of an eye. Next business leaders will struggle to imagine an era at the same time as communication was neither immediate nor virtually free.
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BOTSWANA, 2016/05/12
Africa’s economic increase is likely to be slower in the intervening years than in the before decade, according to the new rating by Ernst & Young using a barometer to gauge the level of appeal and success.“The baseline projection of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2016 is presently reduced to 3%, while it was estimated at 6.1% in April 2015″, Ernst & Young points out in its rating.
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BOTSWANA, 2016/05/11
Oil, gold, diamonds, palm oil, cocoa, timber: raw materials have long been linked to Africa in a lot of businesspeople’s minds. And in fact the continent is highly dependent on commodities: they constitute as much as 95% of some nations’ export revenues, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
But propping a country’s entire economy on commodities is risky business, like building a mountainside home on stilts. You can’t be sure about the weather, or in this case the commodities market. The current free-fall of oil prices to less than $40 a barrel is a glaring example. “The commodities cycle has tanked out,” says Austin Okere, founder of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), a Nigerian emerging multinational financial services company. “And this time it looks additional structural than cyclical, so it’s not a matter of waiting it out. Something has to give.”
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DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/04/04
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DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/03/25
Djibouti’s efforts in recent years to foster increase through infrastructure investment have been largely successful, according to the IMF’s most recent Article IV consultation.
Accumulation investment reached 44% of GDP in 2014 and is expected to peak at 60% in 2015. As of late 2014, the country had accumulated $1.5bn in foreign capital, up from around $15m in the mid 1980s. Foreign direct investment has been highly concentrated around ports, roads, real estate and hotels.
GDP increase is as well expected to continue increasing, from 6% in 2014 to around 6.5% in 2015 and 2016, and 7% per annum through to 2019, as per IMF figures. As the infrastructure drive increases request for housing and services, inflation is expected to rise from 3% in 2015 to approximately 3.5% between 2016 and 2018.
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DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/02/12
Djibouti is looking to tap into rising request for niche getaways as part of a broader bid to develop its tourism industry over the next two decades.
On the coast of the Red Sea and home to a range of incomparable landscapes, Djibouti is particularly keen to focus on the adventure and ecotourism segments. Business travel is as well being targeted, with the country looking to bolster its role as a gateway to the neighbouring 94m-person Ethiopian economy through improved infrastructure and commercial links.
Developments over the next decade, inclunding two new luxury hotels and two planned airports, indicate that the national drive to boost visitor numbers is by presently advancing, though concerns over infrastructure shortfalls remain.
