China Eximbank loans $61.3 million USD for the Djibouti Assal Lake Salt Export Terminal at the Port of Goubet

On 11 November 2012, Chinese and Djibouti government officials signed a concessional loan framework agreement for the Djibouti Assal Lake Salt Export Terminal Project at the Port of Goubet (other project names: 吉布提阿萨尔盐湖盐业出口码头 or 吉布提盐业开发项目 or ASSAL盐湖开发项目 or Construction du port de Ghoubet or Port Minéralier du Goubet). On 19 November 2012, China Eximbank and the Djibouti Ministry of Finance signed a $61,375,440 loan agreement for this project (see source ID 113054 p. 11). The terms of the loan are unknown. The cargo facility at the Port of Goubet was supposed to to facilitate the export of salt and gypsum deposits from Lake Assal, the world’s largest undeveloped salt reserve and the second most saline body of water on Earth after Don Juan Pond in Antarctica. This project sought to create a port with a depth of 14 meters, and a terminal bulk carrier located 17m from the extraction zone. It also included the rehabilitation of a 8.4km road connecting the terminal to the extraction zone. The Port of Goubet is located 40 km south of the Gulf of Goubet, and its construction was designed to help Djibouti export 5 million tons of salt annually to Southeast Asian countries.China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd., was the contractor responsible for project implementation. Construction began on 7 November 2013, and the President of Djibouti inaugurated the port on 22 June 2017.

Additional details

SAIS-CARI identifies the face value of the China Eximbank loan for this project as $64 million in the database of Chinese loan commitments that it released in July 2020. However, AidData relies on the $61,375,440 figure reported jointly by the Government of Djibouti’s Ministry of Equipment and Transport and the Japanese Government (source ID 113054).

Number of official sources

15

Number of unofficial sources

12