Djibouti given land in Oromia

By Wudneh Zenebe [Addis Fortune]  July 22, 2008

The Ethiopian government has pledged to grant Djibouti 5,000 hct of land for the latter to develop a modern mechanized farm to help feed its population, a senior government official, told Fortune. Djibouti plans to cultivate wheat on the farm, which will be located either in the Arsi or Bale zones of the Oromia Regional State.

Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh, who was here with his family last week, held talks with top Ethiopian government officials and went back having secured the promise.

Bale and Arsi are two of the areas in Ethiopia with land suitable for wheat production, and that is why they were chosen for the proposed farm. A team of experts will soon move into the areas to identify a specific site for it.

The tiny Horn of Africa state, with a population of 400,000 people, won its independence from France on June 27, 1977. Its second President, Guelleh, was sworn in for a second and final six-year term in a one-man race on 8 April, 2005. He took 100 per cent of the votes, after a 78.9 per cent voter turnout.

Guelleh was first elected to office in 1999, taking over from Hassen Gouled Aptidon, a man who had ruled the Red Sea nation since its independence.

In an exclusive interview with Fortune on July 6, 2008, Guelleh had said that he would complete his term of office after a year and would not run for a third term.

Guelleh managed to secure not only the pledge for land to establish a farm, but was also given a 10,000Sqm plot by Lake Babogaya - one of the nine lakes in Bishoftu (Debrezeit) town of Oromia Regional State - to construct a house for him and his family. The plot in the town of lakes, 47 kilometres from Addis Abeba, was granted free of lease.

While receiving the plot's title deed from Abadulla Gemeda, president of the region, on Friday July 18, 2008, Guelleh said the construction of his modern house would begin as soon as possible. The Babogaya house would be his second presidential residence in Ethiopia. The first one is situated in Dire Dawa Town. Not only Guelleh benefited from this visit to Ethiopia. His wife, Kadra Mahmoud Haid was also granted 20hct of land in Sebeta area, 20 kilometres from Addis Abeba along the Jimma Road on the same day. This piece of land would enable the Djiboutian First Lady join the emerging lucrative Ethiopian flower industry.

She leased this land, in an area very near to Addis Abeba, and renowned as one of the places suitable for floriculture development, according to Alemu Sime, commissioner for the Oromia Investment Commission.

Djibouti is Ethiopia's major outlet to the sea, and is 761Km from Addis Abeba. The Ethiopia-Djibouti corridor is the main line for Ethiopia's import and export trade, and the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Line has played a significant role in strengthening the interdependency between the two Horn of Africa nations.

The cross country Railway Enterprise has been waning for a long time now, but the concessionary request by DP World - the Dubai based company that entered an agreement with Djibouti's government to administer the port for 20 years - is expected to invigorate it, if the request materializes.