Djibouti's sovereign wealth fund aims to double assets in a decade, CEO says
Djibouti's sovereign wealth fund plans to double its assets under management of more than $1 billion in the next decade, its chief executive said, investing in high-return projects to support the government's economic development plans.
The Horn of Africa country established the Fonds Souverain de Djibouti (FSD) in 2020, looking to tap a model that has successfully been deployed by Gulf and Asian economies like Qatar and Singapore, to bankroll economic diversification and development, while offering a cushion during crises.
"All else being the same, the base of dividends etcetera, I think we can double the size of the assets under management within the next decade certainly," Slim Feriani, the chief executive officer of FSD, told Reuters in an interview.
The wealth fund fully owns the state telecommunications monopoly Djibouti Telecom, and a 40% stake in GHIH, which is the holding company for many of Djibouti's maritime and logistical assets including its port, Feriani said.
It also gets about $25 million in cash every year, representing a 20% share from the annual revenue from leases of bases by the government to foreign militaries.
Djibouti's location makes it a strategically important country, hosting military bases for the United States, China, Japan and European nations like Italy and France, Feriani said.
Djibouti, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, is one of the smallest countries in Africa with a population of just over 1 million people.
Its economy is heavily dependent on global maritime transport and its state-of-the-art key deep water port, which also serves the neighbouring, landlocked Ethiopia, a fast-growing market of more than 100 million people.
The World Bank forecasts economic growth to average 5.4% from 2024-2026, supported by export earnings from logistics and re-exports to Ethiopia.
"We are a hub for ports and logistics, but we should be a hub for manufacturing industry for the rest of the region," said Feriani.
FSD has an investment pipeline worth more than $50 million, encompassing data centres, renewable energy and logistics in the country, as well as a stake in a solar energy project in the Grand Bara area, said Feriani who previously held positions at investment bank Nomura in London and as a minister in Tunisia.
However, the fund would eventually also invest in assets outside the country, said Feriani, without giving a time frame.
"Our inspiration is Temasek," he said, referring to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri. Editing by Karin Strohecker and Mark Potter)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
2 hours ago
- Arabian Post
G42 Plants Flag in London to Power Europe's AI Ambition
G42 has unveiled a new London‑based subsidiary, G42 Europe & UK, designed to amplify its AI infrastructure and services across the United Kingdom and continental Europe. The entity, co‑chaired by Omar Mir and Marty Edelman, will deliver end‑to‑end AI offerings—from advisory and model deployment to supercomputing infrastructure—for sectors including finance, healthcare, energy and manufacturing. The launch comes as G42 continues its strategic European rollout, following the roll‑out of AI compute clusters and data‑centre capabilities in France and Italy. Positioned at the heart of London, the new hub aims to serve as a local nexus for AI innovation, bridging the gulf between regulatory frameworks and technological delivery. Omar Mir, an international board member at World Wide Technology with more than two decades of experience in 5G, cloud and AI services across Europe and the Middle East, will co‑lead the initiative. His counterpart, Marty Edelman, G42's group general counsel, brings deep expertise in legal oversight and governance—a reflection of G42's emphasis on secure, sovereign deployment in regulated markets. ADVERTISEMENT Mir emphasised the vision: 'Our goal is to harness G42's proven AI expertise and localise it for European and UK businesses—fuelling digital transformation, enhancing competitiveness, and building resilient, sovereign AI infrastructure in partnership with public and private stakeholders'. Edelman added that the UK and Europe represent dynamic markets with significant scope for AI‑driven innovation, and that a London hub enables the company to align closely with local regulatory regimes. G42 Europe & UK will leverage the group's global computing backbone—comprising supercomputing nodes, data centres and AI‑modeling platforms—to deliver a full spectrum of capabilities. Services will span strategic advisory, AI model development, infrastructure deployment and managed services, all with a focus on local data sovereignty and regulatory compliance. The initiative complements G42's earlier announcements of strategic investments in AI infrastructure in France and Italy. In Italy, G42 is partnering on a €1 billion supercomputing build with iGenius, while in France it has established an AMD‑powered AI facility in Grenoble. The London operation is expected to accelerate regulatory engagement and foster partnerships tailored to the European sovereignty agenda. Analysts suggest the move is part of a broader ambition by the UAE and G42 to position themselves as credible alternatives to US and Chinese cloud and AI providers. By offering sovereign, locally governed infrastructure, G42 aims to appeal to European clients seeking secure, high‑performance computing solutions. G42's broader portfolio, including Khazna data centres, Core42 sovereign‑cloud capabilities, cybersecurity firm CPX, analytics outfit Presight and AI lab Inception, will support the London hub's operations. This integrated ecosystem underpins G42's 'Intelligence Grid', a unified platform delivering enterprise‑grade AI research, analytics and cloud services. London's strategic significance is two‑fold. As a pre‑Brexit financial and regulatory anchor, it provides a gateway to both UK and EU markets. Moreover, it enhances G42's ability to work alongside national and regional authorities in shaping next‑generation AI infrastructure and data governance frameworks. Employee responses on social media underline the positive reception. A post from G42's LinkedIn noted the subsidiary 'will drive localized AI solutions and lead infrastructure build‑outs across the UK and continental Europe,' garnering broad applauds from industry peers. Industry observers acknowledge that G42's European foothold aligns with wider trends in AI geopolitics. Investment in local compute and data sovereignty reflects growing European determination to reduce dependency on US or Chinese technology ecosystems while scaling home‑grown digital capacity.
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
India faces two years of sugar surplus, growers and officials say
India is set to produce surplus sugar for at least two consecutive years, as millions of farmers expand the area under sugarcane cultivation amid ample rainfall, boosting crop yields, growers and industry officials said. The rebound in production would allow the world's second-largest sugar producer to increase exports in 2025/26, they said, after poor rainfall cut sugarcane yields and led to two years of export restrictions. 'Sugarcane usually gives us good returns, but sometimes we can't plant it due to a lack of water,' said Umesh Jagtap as he planted the crop on a three-acre plot in Maharashtra, a leading sugar producing state in the west. 'This year, we had heavy rain in May, and the forecast says more rain is on the way. So we're planning to plant more than usual.' Farmers from Maharashtra and neighbouring Karnataka struggle to irrigate their sugarcane crop in May. This year, however, Maharashtra and Karnataka received 1,007 per cent and 234 per cent more rainfall than average, respectively. The rainfall will benefit the crop to be harvested in the 2025/26 season, starting October, and will also support planting for the 2026/27 harvest, said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF). Sugarcane typically takes 10 to 18 months from planting to harvest. As a result, farmers who began planting this month are expected to harvest their crop during the 2026/27 season. The NFCSF estimates gross sugar production in 2025/26 to rise by nearly a fifth from a year earlier, reaching 35 million metric tonnes. For the 2024/25 marketing year to September, India's net sugar production is expected to fall below consumption for the first time in eight years. This decline stems from a 2023 drought that hit sugarcane planting and forced India to prohibit sugar exports in 2023/24 and allowing merely 1 million tonnes in 2024/25. India was the world's No. 2 sugar exporter during the five years to 2022/23, with volumes averaging 6.8 million tonnes annually. 'Looks like production is set to bounce back strongly, so New Delhi will probably have no trouble allowing exports of over 3 million tonnes in the next season starting October,' said a Mumbai-based trader with a global trade house. Meanwhile Cristal Union, France's second-largest sugar and ethanol maker, on Tuesday posted a 62 per cent fall in net profit in 2024/25 to 117 million euros ($134 million), weighed down by a fall in sugar prices, and warned of weak results in the current fiscal year. Sales for the year ended January 31 declined to 2.65 billion euros from 2.8 billion the previous year, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by a third to 287 million euros, the cooperative said. Other European sugar and ethanol groups, including France's largest producer Tereos and Germany's Suedzucker, have also posted steep profit declines, pressured by weak European sugar prices amid high local supply and strong Ukrainian imports. Higher volumes partly offset the decline in European sugar prices and limited the fall in revenue, the group said. However, a further slide in sugar prices since the start of the year and high costs were likely to weigh on this year's results, it said. 'The Group expects sharply lower results for 2025/26, as a result of much more unfavourable market conditions and sharply rising agricultural and industrial production costs,' the group said in a statement. Meanwhile Argentina's government has increased the prices of sugar- and corn-based bioethanol for mandatory blending with fuels for local use, according to a resolution published in the Official Gazette on Friday. The Energy Secretariat, under the Ministry of Economy, set the price of sugarcane-based bioethanol at 792.122 pesos (about $0.67) per liter, up from the previous price of 788.181 pesos per liter. Meanwhile, the price of corn-based bioethanol rose to 726 pesos per liter (about $0.61), up from 722.395 pesos before the resolution was announced. The changes take effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette and will remain in effect until a new price is published to replace them. Reuters
The National
6 hours ago
- The National
About 20 million bpd of crude in focus amid Israel and Iran tensions
About 20 million barrels per day of oil and refined products could be affected if shipping operations are disrupted along the Strait of Hormuz amid the continued tensions between Israel and Iran, according to analysts. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow water channel in the Arabian Gulf between Iran and Oman, where oil tankers carry large volumes of oil and refined products to different destinations from Gulf producers as well as from Iran and Iraq. Iran in the past has threatened to close the strait for maritime traffic in retaliation for western pressure. Any closure could impact trade and oil supplies flowing to global markets. 'The Strait of Hormuz remains the critical chokepoint,' Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, said. 'Around 12 million barrels per day of crude oil pass through the strait, over 80 per cent of it bound for Asia. Including refined products, the total volume can reach up to 20 million barrels per day.' While Saudi Arabia and the UAE have spare pipeline capacity to bypass the strait, it is limited, he said. Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline and the UAE's Habshan-Fujairah pipeline together can handle around half of the flow, he added. 'The strait is jointly controlled with Oman, and past tactics have included seizing or harassing tankers by jamming their GPS signals to draw them into Iranian waters. This increases the risks of navigating the route.' Last year, Iran 's Revolutionary Guard seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Strait of Hormuz. Tensions across the Middle East rose on Friday after Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran, killing senior military officials and hitting key nuclear sites. Iran also launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel into Saturday morning, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, raising concerns of a wider Middle East war. Oil prices have surged in response to rise in tensions in the Middle East. Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the gauge that tracks US crude, had jumped more than 13 per cent before settling at around 8 per cent higher on Friday. 'While Iran has threatened to block the strait before, their current weakened position makes this uncertain. There's still a risk from Iran's proxies like Houthi rebels and Hamas, who may retaliate,' Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group, said. Last year, Houthi rebels have carried out attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea, disrupting maritime traffic and causing oil prices to rise on supplies worries. Many shipping companies were forced to reroute and take a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to transport cargo to Europe and other destinations. Houthis said they launched attacks on ships, in solidarity with Hamas fighting against Israel in Gaza. Shipping companies urged to take extra measures 'The situation is very tense, and we have reports that more shipowners are now exercising extra caution and are opting to stay away from the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf,' Jakob P Larsen, chief safety and security officer with shipping association Bimco, told The National in a statement. If the US is perceived to be involved in attacks, 'the risk of escalation increases significally,' which will impact freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz. 'Such an escalation could include missile attacks on ships or laying of sea mines in the strait,' he added. Bimco has advised shipowners to follow developments closely and implement ship defence measures as tensions continued to rise between Israel and Iran. India's directorate general of shipping also urged Indian-flagged vessels and Indian seafarers transiting through the Strait of Hormuz "to exercise due caution while operating in or navigating through the region," according to an advisory on its website. Oil at $100 per barrel There is an elevated risk premium in the market that could push oil prices higher, analysts said. 'While a full blockade remains unlikely, the possibility, even if small, helps explain the elevated risk premium in the market today,' Mr Leon said. Iman Nasseri, managing director of Middle East at FGE Nexant, expects oil to jump above $100 per barrel if the strait is closed. "It seems like $70 to $80 (per barrel) would be the range for the short term if there is no closure of strait, if the strait gets closed, then we're looking at $90 and even above $100," Mr Nasseri told The National.
