Djibouti serves collects revenue from military base rentals
July 12,2017
borkena,Africa News
China’s People’s Liberation Army dispatched troops to Djibouti. Press TV cited Chinese Ministry of Defense website to report that the sendoff was ceremonies at Zhanjiang, Southern Chinese port.
China claims that it will use the military base for purposes of anti-piracy operations, UN peacekeeping missions and for charitable missions in Africa and Western Asia.
France, Japan, United States, India and other countries have also military bases in Djibouti. The United States has been operating for years now from its Camp Lemonnier base which might experience unease due to Chinese military presence.
China has also a colossal economic presence in the Horn of Africa, especially in Djibouti’s ally and neighbour, Ethiopia and it is one of the major lenders to the Ethiopian government. In addition to considerably huge investment, by the standard in Ethiopia, in the manufacturing sector, China has a lion’s share in infrastructure development which is worth tens of billions of dollars. The Chinese language is already being offered at Addis Ababa University and there is a growing Chinese population in the country.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti provides access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and it is also a gateway to the Suez cannel.
Recently, it is experiencing tension with Eritrea, another strategically important country in the Horn of Africa.
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