Last week I found myself at the lowest point in Africa with some Embassy colleagues. Lac Assal in Djibouti is 155 metres below sea level – Mirage pilots stationed nearly like to skim the surface, so they can say they have flown under the sea. The lake itself is heavily salted and you have to walk or drive against massive salt flats to reach it – at the edge there are intricate crystalline structures. There are commercial plans to exploit the salt, but more excitingly the lake sits in a volcanic region containing hot springs – the potential for geothermal energy exploration is considerable.
As non-Resident Ambassador, I was in Djibouti for a number of reasons – to host a Queen’s Birthday Party (at which we were honoured by the attendance of the Prime Minister); to look into the geothermal possibilities; and to explore in more detail Djibouti’s exciting plans to expand their existing port and free zone infrastructure and to build several new ports. If only some of these plans come off, as they will, Djibouti will be a happening place for the next few years