Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh to invest in Bale

21 July, 2008 Capital

President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti is set to invest in the agriculture sector after receiving a large tract of land estimated to be over 7,000 hectares in Bale, Oromia Regional State. The multi-million dollar investment would commence in the next few weeks. The plot is slated for a wheat farm.

The president has also received 20 hectares of land around Sebeta to invest in the booming flower sector, on lease basis.
The president also visited a site of 10,000 sq. meters at Babogaya Lake in Bishoftu (Debre Zeit) town, 45 kilometers South East of Addis Ababa and has received a free title deed for a plot to construct a home.

During the hand over ceremony of the title deed, President Guelleh stated that he expects Bishoftu to be his second home and thanked the town’s mayor for the plot.

Abadula Gemeda, President of the Oromia Regional State presented the title deed to the president on Friday July 18, 2008, at the Air Force Officers Lounge, as well as deeds to the flower and agricultural plots that are both located in the Oromia Regional State.

President Guelleh is here on vacation with his spouse.

The plot that was given for construction of a vacation home used to host a Catholic Mission that was set up 45 years ago.
According to information obtained from Bisoftu town officials, the mission has a plot of over 36 hectares in the town and after negotiations, the mission agreed to return over six hectares of land. The mission head has met and talked with President Guelleh.

The Oromia Regional State President presented as a gift traditional clothes of the Oromo people, to President Guelleh and his wife.

Gifts were also given to the high level delegation that accompanied him during the visit.

Ministers including the Foreign Affairs Minister of Djibouti and others and high level officials accompanied the president.
The president of the Republic of Djibouti also paid a visit at one of the mosques in the town for his Friday Prayers.

President Guelleh has built a 5-storey guest house that is worth 45 million birr in Dire Dawa city, with 60 standardized rooms, which is expected to be functional in the near future. The president was born in 1947 in Dire Dawa city.

President Ismael Omar Guelleh took office on May 8, 1999, after winning an April election that a panel of international observers judged as free and fair. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 2005 after an election that was marred by the opposition’s refusal to participate. Under his guidance, Djibouti is entering a new era, with hopeful signs for democratization and development.

The President has committed himself to reaching out to all sectors of Djiboutian society, to transparency, and to modernizing the government to attain economic and social development goals. The 2006 regional and local elections, widely accepted as a positive, multi-party process, were a significant advance.

Warda A. Graham, owner of Wajag Gas and Alemayehu Ketema a well known businessman in the construction business facilitated the investment opportunity.