Gulf of Aden area, political map. Deepwater gulf between Yemen, Djibouti, the Guardafui Channel, ... [+]
This week, the war between Israel and Hamas had an unexpected impact on maritime traffic in one of the world’s busiest shipping routes through the Red Sea. Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked many of the ships passing through the narrow straits between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa known as the Bab-al-Mandab (which ironically means “Gate of Grief”). While the hostile Houthis control the Yemeni side of the straits, there is a friendly Francophone country on the African side which has been neglected for far too long in terms of tangible and sustainable development investment by the West - or the East.
A nominal democracy, the country has been relatively peaceful yet still desperately poor. I had an opportunity to visit Djibouti after attending for the United Nations African Development Forum some years ago. Amazingly, this small country of only around a million people has six international military bases - including America and China’s only coexistent African military bases. France, Spain, Italy and Japan also have military bases here to help guard against piracy and maintain order for maritime traffic through the Suez Canal.
Talking to locals, there was little resentment towards American presence but also not much to show for their positive impact on the country. Occasionally one would hear stories of US soldiers volunteering for community service or building some unusual desert residence for local villagers, but the overall development impact of US presence here of over 4000 personnel has been minimal. Unemployment is still over 25% and much of the money that comes in from foreign investment is funneled back to the foreign-owned businesses in the capital city.
Imagine the positive impact of showcasing how Western presence was a force for sustainable development in a Muslim country (the population is 95% Muslim), and genuinely changed the human development indicators of the country. The USAID program in the country should be much larger and focus a far more ambitious sustainable development strategy for the country given its strategic value to the US as a military base. The same is true of the Japanese and European investment and indeed this could be a location where cooperative development efforts with China could also be pursued given their military presence there as well.
The unrealized potential for various kinds of investment is also phenomenal. The climate is similar to the sunny Gulf states – hot and dry, but with far greater tourism potential. Djibouti has spectacular desert mountains, which rise up to 2000 meters and where the climate is cooler but accessible within a few hours drive from the capital city. There are two large spectacular lakes which could be a bastion for developing eco-tourism. Lake Assal is a massive crater lake surrounded by salt pans and spectacular mountain scenery. Lake Abbe, on the border with Ethiopia is next to a dormant volcano with its own unique set of geological features such as large limestone chimneys and is one of the key geographic features of the Afar depression which is a rare example of a tectonic triple junction where three geologic plates meet.
Djibouti’s Obock region is the closest point across the terminus of the Red Sea and Arabia. Indeed, this unique location at one time attracted interest from Saudi investor Tarek Bin Laden (brother of infamous deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden) to build a “bridge of the horns” across the divide and develop a tourist resort and business development. While such outlandish mega-projects are misplaced, there is definitely an opportunity for ecologically sustainable tourism development in this region which could get a jumpstart with support from all the countries that have military bases in the country.
The colonial scramble for Africa produced many anomalous national identities that have often impeded development by creating trade barriers or accentuating underlying ethnic tensions and conflict. The old “conquer powers” that divided and synthesized current manifestations of national identities as well as the new “order powers” who aspire for free flow of resources and commerce have an obligation to develop Africa. The task is daunting and trust among Africans is fleeting without some clear marks of resounding success. Djibouti has the potential to be such a success story for development in a relatively short time-frame. Such a prototype for development, in which an impoverished Muslim majority country that literally lies at the gateway between Africa and Arabia, could be a game-change for transcendent international cooperation.
