# Djibouti Port Reports $70m Terminal Expansion

> Wardheer News reported on 2024-01-22 that Doraleh Container Terminal completed a $70 million expansion. What the report does not establish since.

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 30 September 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Infrastructure and Services
- Tags: ports, utilities
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/djibouti-port-70m-terminal-expansion

## Key points

- Wardheer News reported on 2024-01-22, citing a report sourced to Capital Ethiopia, that the Doraleh Container Terminal (SGTD) in Doraleh, Djibouti has completed a USD 70 million expansion.
- The report attributes the figure, the completion and the purpose to that account; no contract award, funder, contractor or cost breakdown appears in the documents.
- The documents do not establish what has happened since: implementation, actual rates, revenue or transshipment volumes.

On 22 January 2024, Wardheer News reported, citing a report sourced to Capital Ethiopia, that the Doraleh Container Terminal (SGTD) in Doraleh, Djibouti had completed an expansion worth USD 70 million. The same report said President Ismail Omar Guelleh attended the opening ceremony, and it put the project's purpose as meeting growing regional demand and enhancing transshipment capabilities.

Only that account supports the figure and the completion. The documents contain no contract award, tender notice, budget line, funder identity, contractor or consultant name, start date or cost breakdown. The USD 70 million is therefore the value given in the Wardheer News report, not a recorded contract value, project value or total cost.

## What the report says was added

According to the Wardheer News report, the project added four high capacity gantry cranes, which it described as a 50 percent increase in the number of cranes, and expanded the stacking yard for a 20 percent increase in capacity. The report said the port is now capable of accommodating the largest container ships, including the Malaccamax vessel. It does not give an absolute crane count, a pre-expansion baseline, throughput figures, or specify which capacity the 20 percent refers to: yard stacking, terminal throughput or storage.

On the commercial side, the report said Ethiopian customers will have the opportunity to enjoy lower rates for their shipments, and that, apart from facilitating Ethiopian import-export operations, the objective is for Djibouti to become a major player in the transshipment industry. The lower rates are stated as an expectation, not an observed result, and the transshipment position as an objective, not an achieved outcome. No mechanism or figure behind the rate expectation is given.

## Who is quoted, and on whose account

SGTD CEO Abdillahi Adaweh Sigad told Capital, as reported by Wardheer News on 2024-01-22, that the expansion will boost transshipment revenue and offer various benefits to Ethiopian clients. ESL CEO Berisso Amallo, also as reported, said ESL can now bring vessels of any size to the Djibouti port. Both are interested-party statements carried in the report: neither is presented as independently confirmed, and no vessel size or draft figures accompany the ESL claim.

> **Note:** The year of the opening ceremony is not stated in the report. Only the January 22, 2024 publication date is given.

## What the report does not establish

What has happened since January 22, 2024 is not established by the documents. There is no record of implementation, actual shipment rates, actual transshipment revenue or actual transshipment volumes following the reported expansion. The Capital Ethiopia original is not among the documents, so its own wording cannot be checked. Independent or primary corporate and government records confirming the completion, the USD 70 million figure, the crane count, the 50 percent crane increase, the 20 percent capacity increase or the Malaccamax capability are also absent.

The practical question for a regional port reader is what the facility can handle today. On the documents, that is unanswered.

## Questions

### Which facility was expanded, and where?

Wardheer News reported on 2024-01-22 that the facility is the Doraleh Container Terminal (SGTD) in Doraleh, Djibouti. One passage in the report refers only to "its expansion"; the facility is named in the fuller passage.

### How much capacity was added?

According to the Wardheer News report of 2024-01-22, the stacking yard expansion resulted in a 20 percent increase in capacity, and four additional high capacity gantry cranes increased the number of cranes by 50 percent. The report does not specify which capacity the 20 percent refers to, and no pre-expansion crane count or throughput figure is given.

### Are there details on funding, contractors or costs beyond the USD 70 million figure?

No. The documents contain no contract award, tender notice, budget line, funder identity, contractor or consultant name, start date or cost breakdown. The USD 70 million appears only as the value stated in the Wardheer News report.

## Sources

- [Djibouti Port facility completes $70 mln expansion, enhancing Transshipment capability](https://wardheernews.com/djibouti-port-facility-completes-70-mln-expansion-enhancing-transshipment-capability/) — Wardheer News, 2024-01-22