Djibouti: A Jewel on the Horn: A Nation’s Challenges and Opportunities

Djibouti: A Jewel on the Horn:  A Nation’s Challenges and
Opportunities
Part I
By Faisal A. Roble
Jan 07, 2012
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Xeebtaa Jabuutee,  Soomaali laga  xaday,  haddii aan Xagaa Tagay;  Xeer ma’aan Jabin,  ee
maxaa la iigu soo xidhay? Maxamed Mooge, erayadii abwaan Cabdi Qays
INTRODUCTION
What  makes Djibouti  transform  itself  from  what was otherwise a desert city-state located on
volcanic lava to one of the most dynamic societies in the Horn of Africa?  Sheer ingenuity and
hard work by its leaders is the obvious answer.  Not too long ago, the people of Djibouti were
synonymous with tough warriors and impenetrable Somali and Afar clans with a negative stigma
attached to them (those who had tortured John Speck in 1885, a fellow traveler of Sir. Richard
Burton)
i
.   Today,  however,  Djiboutians are considered to be  people of significant diversity,
liberal Islamic culture and business acumen so much so that their city could be described as no
less than a “Jewel on the Horn of Africa.”
Despite that I was born in a place only about 170 miles to the southwest of Djibouti, I hadn’t had
the opportunity in the past to visit this Red Sea city-state prior to the week of December 15-23,
2011.  As a matter of fact, during the French rule in Djibouti (complimented by the draconian
immigration policies under the rule of Hiale Sellasie over the Somalis in the eastern regions),
visiting the “French Somaliland Territory,” as it was known, was as nearly impossible as New Continued