Under the Mayor's leadership, Djibouti City charts the course towards financial autonomy

Date de l'événement : 2024-12-18

In a context marked by growing expectations in terms of local governance, the city of Djibouti is distinguished by a bold initiative, the fruit of the vision and leadership of its Mayor, Mr. Saïd Daoud Mohamed. With the implementation of a unique, structuring and forward-looking project, the municipality is resolutely committed to the path of financial autonomy, an essential pillar of modern and sustainable management. This innovative project, designed and launched by the Mayor himself, demonstrates a clear ambition: to provide local authorities with the means to fully assume their responsibilities while effectively responding to the needs of citizens. The idea of providing Djibouti with a tailor-made 2025 budget was born from a desire to break with dependence on external funding and build sustainable financial autonomy. By integrating renowned partners, such as AFD, Expertise France and the firms ARREH&DEIL and ACL CONSULTING, Mr. Saïd Daoud Mohamed has been able to gather around him high-level technical expertise. But beyond the skills mobilized, this initiative is based on an inclusive and democratic management philosophy. By creating a revenue service, strengthening institutional resources and granting autonomous budgets to each municipality, the Mayor intends to provide local levels with a real capacity for action. Indeed, this innovative approach goes beyond the simple financial framework: it gives power back to local elected officials and strengthens transparency in the management of public resources, while engaging institutional actors in a collective dynamic. This project is the result of a long-term vision, shaped by the Mayor and driven with determination by all the presidents of municipalities and local elected officials. The meetings of December 17 and 18 illustrated the methodology implemented: involving all stakeholders, from the municipal to the technical level, in a climate of listening, cooperation and trust. Moreover, the Mayor did not just supervise the process: he was its architect. By involving the presidents of the three municipalities in the crucial stages of budget development, he strengthened their role and their capacity for action. This approach reflects an inclusive vision of governance, where each actor becomes an essential link in collective transformation. Thanks to this pioneering initiative, the city of Djibouti is positioning itself as a model to follow. Financial autonomy, long considered an ambitious but distant goal, is becoming a tangible reality. This project goes beyond local borders: it embodies a universal lesson on how a community, guided by leadership, can transform and reinvent itself. Mayor Saïd Daoud Mohamed has combined pragmatism and audacity to give Djibouti an unprecedented trajectory. This is not just a budget proposal: it is a declaration of intent, that of a city that refuses to submit and chooses to control its future. By committing his municipality to this path, the Mayor is offering Djibouti much more than financial autonomy. He is outlining the contours of a modern city, where each municipality is equipped with the means to meet the expectations of its citizens, where transparency and efficiency become standards. Finally, the financial autonomy project paves the way for significant benefits for the city of Djibouti. By providing municipalities with autonomous operating budgets and modernized revenue management tools, this reform will increase the efficiency of public services, improve transparency in the use of resources and stimulate local investment. Ultimately, these advances will not only promote more responsible governance, but also a better quality of life for residents, thanks to better maintained infrastructure and community projects adapted to real needs. By becoming a model of proactive management, the city of Djibouti could also attract new partners and investors, thus consolidating its position as an economic and institutional driver of the different districts of the capital. On this, history will remember this stage as the one where Djibouti, under the leadership of its Mayor, stopped dreaming about its future and began to build it with ambition and lucidity.