Emirati port operator DP World announced on September 20 that it has won a new judgment against the Djibouti government in connection with the case of the revocation of its concession in the port of Doraleh, over which it has filed an extensive series of lawsuits in several international courts.
The latest favorable ruling for DP World is from the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, which agreed to keep the case against China Merchants Ports Holding in the Chinese city’s courts, rather than transferring it to a Djibouti court. DP World accused the Chinese company of pressuring the Djibouti government to expel it from the country and take over its port terminals (https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/dp-world-wins-ruling-battle-djibouti-port-90196283).
On September 20, however, the government of Ethiopia and the government of South Sudan reached an agreement to build a series of infrastructures aimed at establishing a joint link to Djibouti’s port terminals. The agreement was finalized by one of South Sudan’s vice presidents, Taban Geng Gai, and Ethiopia’s finance minister, Ahmed Shide (https://sudantribune.com/article264464/).
The agreement was announced just days after news broke that South Sudan was preparing to purchase some parcels of land on the edge of the port of Djibouti, where it plans to build cargo infrastructure intended for and manage the flow of goods destined for the country (https://www.nigrizia.it/notizia/il-sud-sudan-costruira-un-suo-porto-commerciale-a-gibuti).
Finally, cooperation between South Sudan and Djibouti was strengthened on September 19, by signing an agreement to lay a fiber optic cable network to connect the two countries, via Ethiopia (https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/south-sudan-djibouti-plan-to-lay-fibre-optic-to-juba-3957096).
