Djibouti strongly rejects low port efficiency ranking

The 4th Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) published by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence saw the Port of Djibouti tumble from 29th position in 2022 to number 379 in the 2023 report.

“This decline of over 350 places in a single year is obviously absurd and does not reflect any tangible reality on the ground,” said the Government of the Republic of Djibouti.

“The Republic of Djibouti strongly rejects the conclusions of this report which causes unjustified harm to our country and our facilities. This comes at a time when we have been facing complex operating conditions since early 2024 due to international tensions,” it stated.

It said the data used by the report’s authors was erroneous and cited productivity of 120 movements per hour for vessels docked and significant growth of over 30% between 2022 and 2023. It added the port’s quays were far from being saturated with a utilisation of 40%, and that no exceptional events had disrupted its operations in 2022 or 2023.

“The calculation methods used by the experts in this report seem to distort the reality of the port industry. Other world-class ports with high traffic density are downgraded in the ‘ranking’ to the detriment of ports with significantly lower traffic,” it stated.

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The move of the port of Djibouti from the sub-Saharan Africa region to West, Central and South Asia in this year’s ranking was also questioned.