US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI1182

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 001182 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, SENV, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI MINISTRY OF ENERGY REQUESTS ASSISTANCE 
 
 
1. (U) Summary: After a follow-up conversation with Secretary 
General of the Ministry of Energy, Farah Ali Ainan, on the 
NARUC Utility Regulators Conference in Bamako, Mali, Farah 
approached PolOff on possible U.S. assistance in the energy 
and mining sectors. End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy, Farah Ali 
Ainan, said his recent trip to Mali to attend the Regional 
Coordination Conference and Workshop on Purchase Power 
Agreements and Contract, organized by the National 
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and USAID, 
will prove highly beneficial in many future ventures of the 
Djiboutian government.  Farah commented that he and his 
colleague, Aboulkader Oudoum Abdallah, Head of Climate Change 
and Clean Development at the Ministry of Environment, learned 
an exceptional amount about negotiations with private 
companies.  He added that the information learned in Mali 
will aid the Government of Djibouti in negotiating several 
future projects, including geothermal energy and exploration 
of mineral resources. 
 
3. (U) However, Farah continued, the Ministry of Energy is 
one of the poorest among the Djiboutian ministries and 
infrastructure for studying and developing a national energy 
plan is severely lacking.  Highest on Farah's list of the 
Energy Ministry's needs was human resources and technical 
training.  Farah  outlined a plan for the energy sector, 
which would provide the Government a better overview of 
renewable energy possibilities.  Farah said that the Ministry 
has come up with several ideas, but lacks the scientific 
training, as well as the funding to carry them out.  Among 
his ideas was setting up an Energy Commission that could help 
guide the Government and the power company, Electricite de 
Djibouti, in the usage and development of Djibouti's 
potential energy sources.  Farah added finally that the 
mining sector was another unexploited resource that Djibouti 
possesses and inquired about programs that could help develop 
the industry.  Djibouti has fair quantities of salt, gypsum, 
perlite and dytomite. 
RAGSDALE