Djibouti 1 Port Community Systems DJIBOUTI DPCS PHOTO BY: © PCS OPERATOR | DPCS, DJIBOUTI Djibouti 2 Port Community Systems Introduction collaboration of the stakeholders is required. As highlighted in the case study, stakeholders may request new services as needed. In brief The impact of the DPCS has generally been positive and KPIs are in place to monitor this. A particularly interesting example Djibouti has gone through a high-profile and large infrastructure of this is the improvements seen with respect to Harbor Master upgrade and expansion in recent years, which included USD 1.5 functions and operations. billion of investments in its ports and free zone infrastructure. This has led to tangible improvements in the operations of the ports. Besides infrastructure, trade facilitation through digitaliza- Project preparation and development tion and information technology (IT) systems has also improved. This is particularly aimed at enabling faster and more efficient As already noted in the introduction, the initiative that developed exchanges of import and export documentation. the DPCS began in 2017 was top-down and involved a decision issued by the President of Djibouti. Through this initiative the The implementation of the Djibouti Port Community System Port Authority was put in charge of the project. This then began (DPCS) in 2017 was part of a wider initiative. The project was a tender process where PCS solution providers were identified launched following instructions from the country’s President and selected. At the time, CrimsonLogic was chosen due to the to the chairman of the Djibouti Ports and free zones authority breadth of functionality offered and the pricing of the solution. (DPFZA) to set up an electronic single submission facility for Furthermore, the full ownership of the platform was a critical import/export documentation. factor in the decision and favorable terms were only at the time offered by this company. Following a successful tender process, As of today, the platform has been implemented through direc- a new company, DPCS, was created to work with the PCS solu- tives from the port and free zones authority and has involved tion provider on the implementation of the DPCS System. The both private and public sector stakeholders operating at ports transfer of knowledge is part of the contract and is covered in Djibouti. to enable the DPCS system operator to operate, maintain, and further develop the solution. Why the case study is significant The Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority took the leadership role in the design and implementation of the solution. By doing A key highlight of this case study includes its broad scope, so it created the DPCS company to collaborate with stakeholders including Maritime Single Window (MSW) functionalities. The to implement the solution. solution covers the Port of Djibouti/Doraleh multi-purpose, Société de Gestion du terminal à Conteneur de Doraleh (SGTD), Once the initial core of the system was developed, the govern- formerly Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT), the Port of Tadjourah, ment of Djibouti acquired a perpetual ownership license with and Horizon terminal (liquid-bulk). It does not connect to any access to the source code. This meant taking over the full intel- airport or land border ports. It does, however, include MSW lectual property ownership of whatever was developed since it functionalities. It has expanded to include exports, as well as acquired the solution. imports, both for MSW and PCS functions.22 For MSW func- tionalities, export was included later and became operational The development of the DPCS was planned to follow three key in 2019. For the PCS functionalities, export was implemented consecutive stages, including: with some amendments requested by shipping agents who preferred auto-approval functionalities to reduce operational • Phase 1: Maritime Single Window (MSW) modules. requirements on their side. This enabled port fees invoicing for export functionalities to be included and used. • Phase 2: Port Community System (PCS) modules. In addition, the governance structure of the system in Djibouti • Phase 3: Other Governmental Organizations (OGA) and Busi- is agile. The benefits include continuous improvement in the ness Intelligence. efforts of operator. There is no established or formal regulation concerning what the scope of the project should be. DPCS instead As of the writing of this case study, the system has been devel- works directly with stakeholders to digitalize their services. This oped, and integration with Asycuda has been achieved. In process requires integration with the stakeholders’ systems or addition, shipping agencies, ports and free zones, and freight the implementation of new modules. In both cases, approval and forwarders, are connected and use the DPCS through the system 22 Stakeholders did not use the PCS for export services until December 2022 (see attached DPCS statistics). However, shipping lines or agents use the MSW for electronic infor- mation exchange upon arrival, stay, and departure of vessels in Djibouti’s ports (and thus export and import). Djibouti 3 Port Community Systems PHOTO BY: © PCS OPERATOR | DPCS, DJIBOUTI interface. The respective systems used by terminal operators Another example is that free-zone companies/operators have also been connected through EDI, allowing for interopera- requested digitalized administrative services, like company bility between systems. Five banks have also been connected registration, visa requests, free-zone gate-passes. These have for online payment. been made available by DPCS. In such cases, implementation is subject to priorities and capacity. There is no requirement Moving towards the complete implementation of the solution on the solution provider to go beyond the general scope of the and continuous improvement of the platform, DPCS plans project plan. to digitalize stakeholders’ services as needed. The services provided either involve the integration of the systems being used by stakeholders with DPCS, or the implementation of new Governance and business model modules. In both cases, approval and collaboration of the stake- holder is required and each implementation will go through the The DPCS is a publicly owned company set up as a special typical process of 1) A gap analysis. 2) A design phase. 3) A purposes vehicle (SPV) owned by Great Horn Investment Hold- development and build phase. 4) User acceptance and training, ing (GHIH), a public investment holding owned by the Djibouti before going live. Ports and free zones authority (60%), and the Djibouti Sovereign Fund (40%).23 It has been the case that stakeholders also request new services that are not in the original scope of DPCS. For example, Société The platform so far has been implemented through regula- de Gestion du Terminal à conteneurs de Doraleh (SGTD) port tion and directives from the port and free zones authority in was able to suggest making the request related to the electronic collaboration with other regulatory entities. Memorandum of delivery order (E-DO) module electronic and available through Understandings (MOU) were signed with the most notable being: the DPCS. Freight forwarders can use this to request the deliv- ery order online. While the E-DO module was already available • MoU between the Djibouti Ministry of Infrastructure & Equip- through DPCS, the request was earlier made physically. ment and the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport and logistics on cross-border data exchange. 23 Since June 2020, from the reserves built up, in addition to the returns from the portfolio of future projects and the optimization of the assets transferred to the fund, 40% of the shares held by the State in Great Horn Investment Holding (GHIH) were transferred to the sovereign wealth fund, FSD. The latter becomes a new shareholder of GHIH with a 40% stake. Djibouti 4 Port Community Systems • It involved integrating DPCS platform with the Ethiopian Port operators are represented by Djibouti Ports free zones logistics systems to exchange real-time information on authority in the DPCS Board of directors. Furthermore, the transit cargo transportation. Djibouti Sovereign Fund is also included. These two entities make up the general assembly of shareholders in all the ports. • Partnership agreement with the Directorate of Vocational This is particularly relevant for discussions and decisions related Training of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational to pricing (i.e., user fees and shareholders’ budget contribution, training. the selection of PCS developers). • Introduction of a practical vocational course based on the The set-up is flexible, allowing for an agile work flow. This is DPCS platform for the vocational college students in logis- enabled by the fact that DPCS has a contract with all users and tics before they join the workforce. integrated parties. Each party in the contract has responsibilities • The role of DPCS was to train the vocational college teach- and liabilities where the agreement is breached. This allows ers and set up a clone of the DPCS platform for student DPCS to implement new modules or services without needing training. the unanimous approval of all the stakeholders on the board. • Partnership agreement with the National Office for Statistics. Financing and pricing model • DPCS to provide access to its business intelligence module for the National Office for Statistics staff. The cost of the DPCS is estimated to have been approximately USD 5 million. One million of this was in the form of shareholder • Partnership agreement with the Association for the Develop- investments and the rest covered by debt financing. Currently, ment of Port, Logistics and Transport Professions. operation costs are subsidized until DPCS can recover all its costs from the platform users. • Provision of continual DPCS training for the ports and logis- tics staff. The fees and charges are first set by the Board of Directors and then negotiated with user groups. Fees do not necessarily cover • In addition, DPCS has SLAs and user agreements in place implementation costs in all cases. As a result, the DPCS priori- for all its users. tizes which module is to be implement based on the value to the port and logistics community regarding cost or time reduction. Public and private sector entities are involved in the governance of DPCS through the board of directors. The DPCS Board is made Tasks that are regulated to be performed by DPCS (mandatory) up of the following:24 are normally free of charge. That said, optional services are charged for at a pre-negotiated fee. For any functionalities to • DPFZA Chairman. be chargeable, they must first demonstrate a value added to customers’ logistics operations. Then the benefitting party will • Representative from the Ministry of Transport Infrastructure. be asked to pay an agreed upon fee. • Representative from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Applicable fees include back-end integration and licensing fees Innovation. covering external system integration, which are paid annually. There are also annual connection fees for shipping agents and • CEO of Djibouti Sovereign Fund. free-zone companies. • CEO of Djibouti Ports Corridor Roads (Corridor Road Agency). Functional and technical architecture • Chairman of shipping agents’ associations. The functional architecture of the system includes three main • Chairman of forwarders’ associations. areas of activities, namely OGAs, Customs, and hinterland transportation. The integration with stakeholders that are A port community meeting is held every three months between connected to the system takes place through secure application all port community stakeholders, including Customs. During programming interfaces (APIs). The scope of implementation these meetings, bottlenecks are identified and discussed, and for each service is depicted in the following table. As shown those requirements are submitted. A working group is set up to below, business intelligence and track and tracing are included follow each module. in the scope. 24 The designation of the Board of Directors members was updated at the last General Assembly on January 25, 2023 Djibouti 5 Port Community Systems Table 2. Scope DPCS S/N Djibouti Port Community Systems - Terminal Operator Services Status   ARRIVAL REPORT MODULE 1 Impending Arrival Report (IAR) Completed VESSEL MANAGEMENT 2 Vessel registration Completed 3 Vessel service route Completed 4 Vessel schedule Completed VESSEL ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE MANAGEMENT 5 Berth Application Completed 6 Vessel operation invoicing (marine charges, stevedoring) Completed 7 Vessel operation request (Piloting, Mooring, shifting…etc) Completed 8 Dangerous goods déclarations Completed 9 Crew List Completed 10 Passenger List Completed 11 Health declaration data Completed 12 Hydro Carbon Declaration Completed 13 Security Declaration Completed 14 Vessel movement data ( anchorage,piloating,shifting etc…) Completed 15 E-Port clearance Completed MANIFEST MODULE 17 E-Manifest Completed 18 Co-loader Manifest Completed 19 Manifest Amendments Completed 20 Manifest integration with ASYCUDA World (Djibouti Customs) Completed 21 Custom Waybill Print Completed CARGO MANAGEMENT 22 Electronic Bayplan module Completed 23 Loading / unloading list Completed 24 Nomination of second carrier Completed 25 Electronic Delivery Order Module Completed 26 Online Port Fees Request Module Completed 27 Transport Order (Merchant Haulage Mode ) Completed 28 Booking of Delivery / Receiving time slot Completed 29 Pre- Gate details/print Completed 30 Equipment interchange Print Completed Djibouti 6 Port Community Systems S/N Djibouti Port Community Systems - Terminal Operator Services Status   ARRIVAL REPORT MODULE 31 Freight booking Completed 32 Freight booking Confirmation Completed 33 Container booking confirmation Completed 34 Delivery of nominated container Completed 35 Shipping Note Completed 36 Transport Instruction Completed 37 Packing List Completed 38 Container storing order Completed 39 Release Order Completed 40 Container Delivery / Receiving Gate Schedule Completed 41 Customs declaration submission Pending 42 Integration with ASYCUDA for container release Pending CORRIDOR SERVICES 43 Corridor permit request/print Completed   Free Zones Administrative services 44 FZ company registration Completed 45 CNSS Application (Social security) Completed 46 Visa request Completed 47 Residency request Completed 48 Work Permit request Completed 49 Exoneration request Completed 50 Administrative invoices Completed 51 Renewal of license Completed 52 FZ gate-pass Completed BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE & REPORTING 53 Business Intelligence Module (Dashboards, data visualisation, reports) Completed   track & trace 54 Vessel Tracking Completed 55 Gate-in gate-out tracking Completed 56 Truck tracking corridor Completed 57 Train voyage Tracking Pending 58 Invoice verification Completed 59 Container Tracking Full Details Completed 60 Manifest operation tracking (documentation tracking) Completed Djibouti 7 Port Community Systems Benefits and impact In addition, charging fees for some functionalities represents a barrier to uptake. Using online payment functions, for example, The perception of stakeholders regarding the impact of the PCS are not free. Shipping agents have expressed interest in using the in Djibouti is reportedly positive. For most users, DPCS facili- service but only if it is free or available at a low cost (currently tates the process of sharing the necessary information between reduced from USD 5 to USD 1). traders and authorities. It improves transparency in business, increases efficiencies of business (processes, transport), and minimizes trade transaction costs and time. Key takeaways A particularly good example of the impact is the way in which The system implemented in Djibouti includes the functionalities performance has improved for the office of the Harbor Master. of a PCS and an MSW. Uptake has been high, and the system is Before implementation the office lacked an information system. used by most ports and freeports in the country. All operational Everything was done manually and communicated by email. After ports (DMP/PDSA, SGTD and Tadjourah Port) and most free the implementation of the system, operations are better integrated zones (DFZ, EAH, UKAB) are integrated. with one another, improving performance. The billing system is also now connected with customers, allowing easier billing. The The way in which the project and PCSO are structured and office also achieved a digitized process with faster response times. governed allows for flexibility and continuous improvement. Red tape is eliminated or at least minimized by not pinning down In addition to perception-based evaluations, the DPCS has the specific scope of the solution and instead allowing stake- developed key performance indicators (KPI) to evaluate and holders to provide feedback and input about their requirements monitor its performance. Examples of such KPIs include the and request new functionalities. average response time of responses by public sector entities and Harbor Master services. The impact of the DPCS has generally been positive and KPIs are in place to monitor this going forward. A particularly inter- While the benefits of implementing the system have generally esting example of this is the improvements seen with respect been recognized by stakeholders, challenges to full implemen- to Harbor Master functions and operations. Customs, however, tation by some stakeholders remain. In some cases, for exam- has not completely endorsed the digitalization initiative and work ple Customs, resistance to change applies. There has been a still needs to be done here. tendency not to prefer electronic documents over paper since it appears to reduce autonomy over decision making by officers.