<
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/15/djibouti/> Developing
Djibouti: An American Imperative
Posted by <
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/author/saleemali/>
Saleem Ali of <
http://www.uq.edu.au/> University of Queensland (Australia)
on November 16, 2012
The geographic extremities of any continent tend to have strategic value and
it is thus no surprise that the so-called "Horn of Africa" was contested and
divided between the colonial powers. Italy, the United Kingdom and France
vied for control here. While the highlands of Abyssinia remained a
formidable challenge for colonizers (the Italians captured Addis Ababa only
for a brief period from 1890 to 1896), the coastal regions got divided up
between the colonial powers. Although the French had much of their clout on
the Western end of the continent, they wanted an outpost on the Red Sea,
given its strategic value in connecting Africa to Asia, leading to the
establishment of a small colony of "French Somaliland."
This small colony is now the sovereign state of Djibouti, which gained
independence in 1977 but retains strong ties to France. With a population of
less than a million and hot dry climate with few mineral resources, the
country has been off the beaten track of most travellers. However, during
the last decade, due to the continuing instability in neighbouring Somalia
as well as the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Djibouti has gained
prominence. It is now the only source of maritime access for landlocked
Ethiopia with its population and development needs of over 85 million
people. It is also now also the residence for over
<
http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e483836.html> 20,000 Somali refugees who have
escaped through the "green zone" of
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland> Somaliland from the conflict in
the south of fractured Somalia.
A nominal democracy, the country has been relatively peaceful yet still
desperately poor. I had an opportunity to visit Djibouti recently after a
visit to Ethiopia for the United Nations African Development Forum. My
curiosity to visit this country was sparked by
<
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/remote-us-base-at-cor
e-of-secret-operations/2012/10/25/a26a9392-197a-11e2-bd10-5ff056538b7c_story
_4.html> an article I had read in The Washington Post regarding the
expansion of US military presence in the region. Landing at Djibouti
International airport, one is alarmed to find one side of the air strip
almost completely populated by US Air force presence. The country is also
among the few places in the world where drone aircraft can be seen on a
civilian air strip, often overwhelming civilian traffic. The presence of
these prized new air force stealth weapons in Djibouti comes from its
proximity to the Arabian state of Yemen which has become an increasingly
significant hotbed for Al-Qaeda.
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
<
http://www.businessinsider.com/djibouti-camp-lemonnier-builds-housing-for-l
ocal-villagers-2012-10?op=1> building some unusual desert residence for
local villagers, but the overall development impact of US presence here of
over 3000 personnel has been minimal. Unemployment is still over 40% and
much of the money that comes in from foreign investment is funnelled back to
the foreign-owned businesses in the city. The US government pays only $38
million per year to lease the airfield for the drone operations and the
African command base here which is under further expansion.
The lack of US investment in Djibouti is a tremendous missed opportunity to
develop a country which could be a low-hanging fruit for citizen diplomacy
with the Muslim world. With only 900,000 people and a relatively small
land-base and a highly urbanized population, developing Djibouti with aid
investment would be very easy to do. Imagine the positive impact of
showcasing how US military presence was a force for positive investment in a
Muslim country (the population is 95% Muslim), and genuinely changed the
human development indicators of the country. Yet the
<
http://transition.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/countries/djibouti
/index.html> USAID program in Djibouti is paltry and embarrassing, given the
strategic value of the country to the US as a military base.
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.
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Assal_%28Djibouti%29> Lake Assal is a
massive crater lake surrounded by salt pans and spectacular mountain
scenery. <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Abbe> 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. In addition,
Djibouti's Obock region is the closest point across the terminus of the Red
Sea and Arabia. Indeed, this unique location already attracted interest from
Saudi investor Tarek Bin Laden (brother of infamous deceased Al-Qaeda leader
Osama Bin Laden) to <
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7259427.stm> build a
<
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7259427.stm> "bridge of the horns" across
the divide and develop a tourist resort and business development. However,
instead of encouraging such development plans
<
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=4467>
the United States has discouraged investment in such a project for
ostensible security reasons.
It is high time the United States Departments of State and Defense pay
attention to Djibouti's development. It should be used as a prototype for
positive US investment in the Muslim world and the chances of getting fast
and palpable development progress here are far greater than in Afghanistan
or Iraq. Providing incentives for American business to invest in Djibouti,
coupled with massive development assistance to build infrastructure should
be a top priority for the Obama administration's next Africa policy. In his
next trip to the continent, President Obama needs to visit Djibouti and see
for himself what the US is missing in terms of development potential.
As a starting point, the US should totally rebuild the civilian airport
terminal in Djibouti with USAID funds since that is the most proximate
connection to their own military base and is desperately in need of
renovation. As the development of Dubai shows, airports can be essential
catalysts in promoting international investment. The public diplomacy impact
of this could also be enormous at a small fraction of the hundreds of
millions of dollars being invested in the military base next to the airport.
Port-oriented development and tourism could be the next areas to attract
international investment. USAID should also invest in a massive
environmental cleanup and education program. The urban waste management
system in Djibouti is deplorable and the pollution from waste dumping in the
capital's streets is among the worst I have seen in this region. Educational
investment in schools and a regional university (similar to the American
University of Cairo) could be another important move to attract students
from the region. All this development can be done much faster than in most
African countries. The country's connections to France as well as to the
Arab league provide it with a multilingual demographic labor force that
could easily spur development.
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.
<
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/15/djibouti/china-and-ethio
pia-067/>
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/files/2012/11/China-and-Ethiopia-067
-600x450.jpg
Minor American development investment: A Coca Cola Sign at a decrepit
commercial plaza on road to Lake Assal, Djibouti. Photo by Saleem H. Ali
A street scene in the near the central mosque in the capital of Djibouti:
Missed potential for developing a Muslim country in the Horn of Africa
Djib-mosque
A street scene in the near the central mosque in the capital of Djibouti:
Missed potential for developing a Muslim country in the Horn of Africa
Received on Fri Nov 16 2012 - 10:46:36 EST
