In Focus | Djibouti
Ismael Omar Guelleh loses control of the ports, the country's principal resource
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Following the funeral of the chairman of the Port of Djibouti authority Saad Omar Guelleh, half-brother of head of state Ismaël Omar Guelleh, Aboubaker Omar Hadi, head of the Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority, is steadily becoming the sector's strong man. The president's inner family circle is still very much present, however. Here, we take stock of the forces in competition.
The death on October 7 in Paris of Saad Omar Guelleh, chairman of the Port of Djibouti (PDSA) and half-brother of the head of state, deprives the presidential family of a precious presence in the port sector, Djibouti's main source of economic growth. It opens the way to dynamic Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) chairman Aboubaker Omar Hadi (a member of the Issa/Mamassan clan). He is the uncle of the late PDSA chairman and the nephew of former presidency secretary general Ismaïl Houssein
