Djibouti
2. Bilateral Investment Agreements and Taxation Treaties
Djibouti does not have a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), nor does it have a bilateral taxation treaty with the United States. However, Djibouti is eligible to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), of which Djibouti is a member, signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States in 2001.
In March 2018, Djibouti signed the trade agreement for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), paving the way for a liberalized market for goods and services across the continent. A total of 54 countries have signed the agreement and Djibouti is one of 30 countries to have ratified the agreement. Djibouti has signed bilateral investment treaties with several countries. There is no publicly available list of these treaties, and the terms are not standardized from one treaty to the next. Other treaties to which Djibouti is a party include ESA (Eastern and South Eastern Africa)-EU Interim Economic Partnership Agreement, COMESA, Agreement for the Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investment among Member States of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Cotonou Agreement, AU Treaty, League of Arab States Investment, Arab League Investment Agreement, and Arab Economic Unity Agreement.
Business tax exoneration is given to all newly registered foreign and Djiboutian companies for the first three years of operations for those operating in Classes V through VIII (110,000 DJF (621 USD) to 513,000 DJF (worth of annual business taxes). For those above Class VIII (>513,000 DF (2,898) worth of annual business taxes) and for all banks, they are exonerated from the “proportional” business tax which is equivalent to 20% of their business revenues. Business value added tax (VAT) and consumption tax exoneration is provided to foreign and domestic businesses working in the hospitality, heavy- and light-industrial, real estate and land development sectors during the construction and onboarding phases of the project. As soon as the project begins operations, then the tax exoneration ends. For example, a hotel that is undergoing construction may receive VAT and consumption tax exonerations until the hotel opens for business.
Real estate and sales tax reduction from 10% to 3% is provided for all sales and purchases of land, buildings, and homes for all transactions made by any entity including individuals, foreign or domestic businesses, organizations, schools, etc. Previously, only businesses could receive a tax break of paying 5% sales or purchase tax on land and buildings in their first purchase.
Corporate (profit) tax exoneration is provided for all businesses that enter the market with an initial investment of 50 million DJF (282,486 USD) or more, for up to seven years.
13. Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment Statistics
Host Country Statistical source* | USG or international statistical source | USG or International Source of Data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, Other | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Economic Data | Year | Amount | Year | Amount | |
Host Country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ($M USD) | 2019 | $3,346 | 2019 | $3,319 | www.worldbank.org/en/country |
Foreign Direct Investment | Host Country Statistical source | USG or international statistical source | USG or international Source of data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, Other | ||
U.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, stock positions) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | BEA data available at https://www.bea.gov/international/ direct-investment-and-multinational-enterprises-comprehensive-data |
Host country’s FDI in the United States ($M USD, stock positions) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | BEA data available at https://www.bea.gov/international/ direct-investment-and-multinational-enterprises-comprehensive-data |
Total inbound stock of FDI as % host GDP | N/A | N/A | 2019 | 52.5% | UNCTAD data available at
https://unctad.org/en/Pages/DIAE/ |
* Ministry of Finance and Economy
Table 3: Sources and Destination of FDI
Data not available.
Table 4: Sources of Portfolio Investment
Data not available.