Djibouti refutes World Bank's port performance ranking report
The Port of Djibouti dropped from 26th position worldwide in 2022 to 379th position in 2023
The Republic of Djibouti has strongly rejected the conclusions of the Container Port Performance Index 2023 report published by the World Bank in partnership with S&P.
The Port of Djibouti has dropped from the 26th position worldwide in 2022 to the 379th position in 2023, according to the report. "This decline of over 350 places in a single year is obviously absurd and does not reflect any tangible reality on the ground," says an official statement.
The statement says: "It is evident that the data used by the authors of this report are erroneous. Our performance indicators, in line with the best international standards, are constantly improving. The productivity of the quays at the Port of Djibouti container terminal is 120 movements per hour. Docking statistics show significant growth, resulting in an increase of over 30 percent between 2022 and 2023. The quays are far from being saturated with an average utilisation rate of 40 percent. The port also fulfills its responsibilities in terms of strategic and humanitarian support for the entire region. Finally, no exceptional events have disrupted the port's activities in 2022 and 2023."
The calculation methods used by the experts in the report seem to distort the reality of the port industry, the statement added. "Other world-class ports with high traffic density are downgraded in the ranking to the detriment of ports with significantly lower traffic.
"Furthermore, for perplexing reasons, the Port of Djibouti – considered the best port in sub-Saharan Africa for three consecutive years by the same report – no longer appears in this region and has been moved to a West, Central, and South Asia region which covers an area from Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh.
"In any case, our commitment remains unchanged. Last year, as in previous years, the Djibouti Container Terminal (SGTD) continued to invest in its facilities and productivity, fulfilling its import-export missions for the entire region as well as developing new activities such as transshipment. Four next-generation gantry cranes have been acquired for large-capacity vessels."
