DP World wings legal case against Djibouti government

DP World has won an arbitration case against the government of Djibouti, which claimed the Dubai ports operator made illegal payments to win a concession to operate a container terminal in the Red Sea African state.

A London tribunal ordered the government to bear legal and other costs, throwing out claims that DP World had bribed Abdourahman Boreh, the former head of Djibouti’s ports free zone authority.

Despite the ruling, the Djibouti government’s attitude to the Dubai government-controlled company’s operations remains unclear.

The Djibouti government said it had no comment to make on the decision.

DP World, which operates 77 terminals in 40 countries, declined to comment.

The company has previously said it is keen to revive relations with the Djibouti government and maintain its presence in the country.

In 2014, the government said it had rescinded DP World’s 30-year concession at the Doraleh container terminal, Africa’s largest, when it issued arbitration proceedings alleging corruption.

But DP World, the world’s third largest container terminal operator, continued to manage the Djibouti terminal through the court and arbitration proceedings in the absence of any legal decision to stop their operations.