Djibouti’s Guelleh Expected to Win Sixth Term After Age Limits Lifted
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Djibouti will vote for a president on Friday, with incumbent Ismael Omar Guelleh expected to extend his 27-year rule after parliament removed the age limits that would have barred him from running again. The small but strategically important country sits at the entrance to the Red Sea and hosts U.S., Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese military bases.
Djibouti’s location and relative stability have helped it attract foreign investment and secure its role as a gateway to landlocked Ethiopia. Under Guelleh, the government has invested heavily in port infrastructure, making the country a key logistics and trade hub in the Horn of Africa.
Guelleh faces only one challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar of the small Unified Democratic Centre party, and has won five previous elections, including a landslide in 2021. The opposition has long complained that the political field is uneven, with two major parties boycotting elections since 2016 over concerns about impartiality.
The government says it has preserved stability in a volatile region, while rights groups accuse authorities of repressing opponents, activists and journalists. The poll is therefore less about uncertainty over the winner and more about how Djibouti’s long-running political continuity supports the country’s role as a strategic business and security platform.
