Incumbent President and presidential candidate Ismail Omar Guelleh held his final official campaign event on Wednesday evening,

attracting a large crowd to the national Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium in the capital.

The rally featured thousands of Guelleh’s supporters waving campaign signs in green, the signature color of his ruling coalition,

the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), which has nominated him for another five-year term.

Under the campaign slogan “IOG,” Guelleh assured the crowd that he and his party would continue to foster prosperity in Djibouti.

The Horn of Africa nation, which has a service-based economy primarily driven by the Afar and Somali ethnic groups, has experienced significant growth in its logistics sector over the past two decades under Guelleh’s leadership.

Recently, the country inaugurated its largest shipyard, the Djibouti Ship Repair Yard. Furthermore, Djibouti has expanded its free trade zone, added more oil terminals, and plans to open new ports in the near future.

Over the past 15 years, the nation’s GDP has tripled.
Wednesday’s rally was attended by senior government officials and business leaders.

The Ethio-Djibouti Railway (EDR), a bilateral venture owned by Ethiopia and Djibouti, has introduced special open-top gondola wagons into its cargo operations to help address capacity gaps exacerbated by Ethiopia’s ongoing fuel shortage.

In a letter addressed to the Customs Commission and dated April 8, EDR Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Takele Uma disclosed that the railway is now utilising so-called gondola wagons—designated as types CW3 and CW4—to strengthen freight movement.

On the letter the CEO recalled unlike conventional rolling stock, these wagons are open at the top and cannot be sealed for transport.
Due to this design limitation, the letter requests the commission’s authorisation to move certain cargoes using green seals, as well as goods of exclusive public interest, on these specialised wagons. “The commission was requested to transport cargos with green seal and an exclusively public interest goods on this unique wagons,” the correspondence states.

The letter further notes a sharp rise in demand for containerised freight. “Based on that we have understood that transporting 40‑foot containers on the top of the gondola cargos is the best solution,” the CEO wrote.

To streamline logistics, EDR has asked the Customs Commission to grant advance pass for such consignments—particularly government shipments—allowing them to bypass Dewale Station.

Under the proposed arrangement, inspections would be carried out at the final destination instead. The letter also includes a list of the side numbers for 24 gondola wagons dedicated to the new railway shipment service.

On the information obtained by Capital from EDR’s office in Djibouti indicates that overall cargo volumes heading to Ethiopia are rising significantly.

Brikti Solomon, EDR’s Operations Head in Djibouti, told Capital that the company has brought idle wagons, including gondolas, back into service to expand its handling capacity. “We are including all kinds of cargo—bagged goods, heavy machinery, and containerised cargo,” she said.

Despite a growing number of cargo vessels being rerouted to Djibouti, the Doraleh Multipurpose Port (DMP)—the nation’s largest port facility—has announced that it has ample waiting and storage capacity to handle the incoming goods.

The facility, which processes a broad range of import and export cargo, reports a steady increase in vessels diverting from Jebel Ali Port near the Strait of Hormuz, driven by ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf.

Officials from DMP told Capital that although the terminal is currently operating at a high level of activity, its extensive storage infrastructure is more than capable of accommodating the sudden influx of cargo—alongside its regular services for Ethiopian transit and transshipment operations.

They noted that shipments originally destined for Dubai and other parts of the Persian Gulf are now being redirected to DMP. The facility spans over 192 hectares, in addition to a dedicated yard within the Free Zone, and is well equipped to manage the surge.

“Our berths are operating at full capacity, with up to five vessels simultaneously loading or unloading cargo. As a result, we are experiencing no congestion at the anchorage,” DMP officials told Capital.
They added that only seven vessels are currently waiting to dock at one of Djibouti’s deep-sea ports.
During a site visit by a Capital reporter on April 7, a roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel operated by Kai Diang Shipping Company was observed reloading modern vehicles originally shipped from China to Jebel Ali Port. The client had decided to return the cargo to the Far East, while some 440 vessels remained at DMP serving Ethiopian customers.

The port features a silo with a capacity of 85,000 tons for grain and another 185,000‑ton silo for fertilizer, in addition to a large warehouse for bagged cargo. DMP’s bulk terminal operates three quays dedicated to handling wheat, fertilizer, and other commodities.

Meanwhile, the Doraleh container terminal—SGTD (Société de Gestion du Terminal de Doraleh), which exclusively manages containerized cargo—reported that half of its current operations consist of transshipment. The facility, which adheres to high operational standards, has recently added four Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV) cranes, enabling it to handle vessels of up to 23,000 TEUs—the largest class of vessel at this stage. SGTD stated that its operational pace has significantly accelerated due to the influx of diverted vessels.

The terminal handles 1.2 million TEUs per annum, with a double capacity, and reports that half of its throughput is transshipment. “We have ample capacity to handle huge volumes,” officials added.
SGTD is currently the only facility connected to the Ethio‑Djibouti Railway, allowing for the transport of containerized cargo to and from Ethiopia.

DMP officials also disclosed that they have expanded the railway cargo handling system—which extends 800 meters from the port—to meet growing demand from Ethiopia.

The chairman of Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA), Aboubaker Omar Hadi, has announced that despite a surge in incoming vessels driven by the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf, priority will be given to cargo destined for Ethiopia.

Regarding the opportunity to promote Djibouti as a key transshipment hub in global logistics, the chairman struck a cautious tone, declining to make bold promotional moves. “We are visible enough. We don’t want to be more visible,” he told Capital on Monday. “It’s very dangerous to be more visible.”

Ethiopia’s sharp currency depreciation is driving up fertilizer and fuel prices, threatening to erode gains from a record wheat harvest,
The report says the birr has lost about 107 per cent of its value against the US dollar since the government introduced a market-based exchange rate system in July 2024, weakening from 75 birr to 155 birr per dollar by February 2026.

That decline has sharply increased the cost of imported agricultural inputs at a time when Ethiopia is aiming to harvest 7 million metric tons of wheat in the 2026/27 season. Fertilizer prices have risen by 60 per cent, while fuel costs are up 56 per cent, putting heavy pressure on smallholder farmers and transporters.

The USDA report says the devaluation has filtered through every stage of the production chain, from field preparation to transport and milling. Fertilizer, which remains essential for Ethiopia’s cluster farming model, has become increasingly difficult for many farmers to afford.

Fuel prices have added another layer of strain, raising the operating cost of tractors and sharply increasing transport fees for moving grain from rural producing areas to urban markets. As a result, the higher production outlook is not translating into lower consumer prices.

Wheat prices have climbed by 28 per cent in one year, with the retail price rising from 6,450 birr to 8,250 birr per 100 kilograms. That creates a striking contrast: record output on one side, and rising food costs on the other.

The pressure is also changing consumption patterns. Many households are cutting back on expensive teff and blending it with other grains, while more families are turning to relatively cheaper wheat-based foods such as bread and pasta.

To meet domestic demand, Ethiopia is expected to import 1.4 million metric tons of wheat from Russia, Ukraine and Romania in the coming year. The imported grain is estimated to be about $45 cheaper per ton than locally produced wheat.

However, domestic flour mills are operating at only about half of their capacity, weighed down by shortages of foreign currency and high taxation, limiting their ability to absorb local harvests efficiently.

The report suggests that Ethiopia’s agriculture is facing a familiar policy dilemma: stronger production targets are being undermined by macroeconomic instability. Unless input costs, foreign exchange shortages and logistics pressures ease, record harvests may not translate into improved food affordability for consumers.