Djibouti: A Global Public Good for Regional Stability and Development.
Economists call a public good something that benefits everyone, without exclusion or rivalry. Diplomats know that some nations—by virtue of geography, history, and posture—embody this principle far beyond their borders or population size. Djibouti is one of them.
Our republic is not only a sovereign state serving its own citizens. From the moment of independence, Djibouti has stood as a regional and global public good: a place of anchorage, solidarity, and stability in one of the world’s most turbulent neighborhoods.
A legacy of solidarity
From the beginning, Djibouti has carried the burdens of its region. We twice received waves of Ethiopian refugees during their darkest crises. We opened our borders to Somalis fleeing civil war. We sheltered Yemenis crossing the Red Sea to escape violence, and we welcomed Eritrean families driven out by conflict. Each time, Djibouti paid the human and financial cost of solidarity—never as a matter of choice, but of duty.
This tradition continues. In 2023–24, when Sudan’s crisis escalated, Djibouti became the main hub for humanitarian evacuation, hosting, protecting, and relocating thousands of civilians, diplomats, and aid workers.
A humanitarian lifeline
Djibouti is not only a platform for trade. It is the beating heart of humanitarian logistics on the East African coast. If food and aid continue to reach millions of Yemenis today despite a devastated warzone, it is because Djibouti’s ports serve as the UN’s inspection and distribution base. Quietly, but indispensably, Djibouti has become a lifeline in the global humanitarian chain.
Today, that lifeline is under unprecedented strain. Following a recent and deeply regrettable decision by one of the largest contributors to UN agencies, the UNHCR has scaled back its role in providing basic life services to refugees. The consequences fall directly on Djibouti. With our limited national resources, we are now left to feed and sustain more than 50,000 refugees within our borders. These numbers do not even account for the additional 100,000-plus migrants who cross our territory illegally each year on their way to the Gulf states and Europe. These migrants figures are much more in reality and the main reason of migration is related to climate change consequences as well as lack of opportunities in their respective countries For a nation of barely one million people, this burden is staggering—and it is being carried in silence.
An investor in its neighbors’ future
Djibouti has never been content to be a passive aid recipient. Together with Ethiopia, we co-invested nearly 10 Billions over two decades—in infrastructure that connects not only us but our neighbors. Since the late 1990s, our port capacity has grown fourteen-fold. These facilities are not simply Djiboutian assets; they are regional arteries.
Without them, Ethiopia’s transformation would have been impossible. Over 100 million Ethiopians depend on Djibouti for food imports, energy supplies, and access to world markets.
Some outsiders mistakenly or purposely claim that Djibouti’s Ports & logistics services costs amount two billion dollars per year to Ethiopia. The truth is far more modest: the direct financial flow does not exceed 500 million dollars per year. But numbers miss the point. What matters is the strategic impact: without Djibouti, Ethiopia’s economy would be throttled, and the Horn of Africa’s development trajectory would look radically different.
Why I write today
These facts are not unknown to our partners. So why underline them now?
First, because 15 years of experience in development policy have shown me what Djibouti has contributed—and still contributes—to its region and the wider world. Second, because I am frustrated by the mechanistic formulas too often applied to us. To reduce Djibouti to a million citizens or a modest GDP is to erase its true role: a global public good whose stability and solidarity benefit hundreds of millions.
Towards a fair partnership
Supporting Djibouti is not charity. It is a collective investment in global security.
Investing in Djibouti’s infrastructure secures the flow of maritime trade that powers the global economy.
Strengthening Djibouti’s social resilience contains destabilizing spillovers from fragile neighbors.
Supporting Djibouti’s diplomatic and humanitarian role provides the Horn of Africa with a credible platform for mediation and relief.
As the traditional Allocations formula from IDA, ADF, IDB etc. is good for large or sized states.
This requires new formulas, innovative financing tools, and—above all—a fair partnership. Not despite Djibouti’s size, but because of its unique function.
An undeniable truth
Djibouti is small on the map but immense in purpose. It is a strategic crossroads, a humanitarian lifeline, a security anchor, and a vital node of world commerce.
My intention is not to provoke polemics, but to restate a truth that can no longer be ignored: without Djibouti, the Horn of Africa would not have experienced the progress it has achieved.
It is time to move beyond arithmetic models and face reality. Djibouti is a global public good. Supporting it is not supporting a small country—it is securing regional resilience, the Horn’s cohesion, the stability of world trade, and ultimately, global peace.
Ilyas M. Dawaleh
Minister Of Economy & Finance,in Charge of Industry, Republic of Djibouti.
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