Devising a solution to Ethiopia’s impasse of being landlocked, the country has agreed to establish a joint committee to enhance the port and customs services in order to speed up transportation of commodities to Ethiopia with its sea-coast facing neighbour Djibouti. The development is expected to come as a relief for the export oriented business of apparels and textiles since currently, it takes 2-3 days for a container to arrive from Djibouti to Addis on road (770 km). In addition, 7 days are required for custom clearance and other formalities at Djibouti port. The committee’s intervention is expected to reduce the transit time from Djibouti to Addis Ababa. The committee will be made up of experts drawn from the revenues and customs, transport, maritime and logistics services of both countries.
