The Integrated Urban Development Project 2 (PDUI 2 ter), implemented since 2021 by ADDS in the Layabley and Moustiquaire neighborhoods of Balbala, has once again expanded its area of ​​intervention in order to consolidate, according to its designers, the achievements of the previous phases. PDUI 2 ter has taken over from PDUI 2 bis, whose work was completed in December 2024.

A glimpse at this vast urban modernization underway west of Balbala.

Stone by stone, road by road, the PDUI 2 continues its progress and extends its reach to the outlying areas of Layabley and Moustiquaire. Following the completion of the first two phases—PDUI 2 and PDUI 2 bis—in December 2024, PDUI 2 ter takes over. Funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) to the tune of €11 million, equivalent to approximately 2.3 billion CFA francs, this new phase aims to go even further in transforming these neighborhoods into true hubs of urban, social, and economic development.

Through PDUI 2 ter, ADDS intends not only to improve accessibility and strengthen public facilities, but also to implement targeted actions in favor of social development, women’s empowerment and youth capacity building.

The priorities of this new phase, currently underway, are numerous. It specifically targets an area lacking infrastructure and which has not benefited from any prior development. The objective is to open new roads, extend drinking water and electricity networks, create additional public spaces, and improve living conditions through the implementation of local public and community infrastructure.

On the ground, workers from the Hawk company, in charge of the conditional phase of the PDUI 2 ter project, are hard at work. For several months now, bulldozers, graders, and dump trucks have been laying out the future roads that will structure the outlying area of ​​Balbala, where road infrastructure was virtually nonexistent. One of the major components of PDUI 2 ter is indeed the complete overhaul of the road network, essential for opening up the neighborhoods west of Balbala, including Layabley-Moustiquaire, and facilitating the mobility of their residents.

To achieve this, this new phase includes the construction of 2.5 kilometers of paved roads, the true backbone of this part of Balbala. Among these roads, a 0.9 km section of Boulevard Assamo and an additional 1.5 km on its service road will form the main thoroughfares designed to improve daily traffic flow. In addition, 1.5 km of secondary roads will be built in the Moustiquaire neighborhood, designed to facilitate residents’ access to their homes and improve internal transportation. Other roads connecting Boulevard Assamo to the outlying areas of Moustiquaire and Balbala 11 will complete the project.

Once completed, these road infrastructures are expected to profoundly transform the local dynamics. They will allow faster access to essential services: schools, markets, health centers, and community facilities. For the first time, residents will be able to connect in a modern urban environment without endless detours or winding alleyways.

“When these roads are finished, taxis will come without hesitation to our homes,” confirms Amina Saïd, who has lived in Moustiquaire for twenty years.

In the area, discussions among residents revolve around the ongoing construction on Boulevard Assamo, which, once completed, will become a true hub for economic, sporting, and cultural activities, as well as a meeting place. Indeed, the space between the two lanes of traffic on the boulevard will house two markets identical to the one built during the previous phase, a public square, two multi-sports fields, a six-lane pétanque court, and a viewpoint with a kiosk and two modern children’s playgrounds, located to the north and south of this strategic thoroughfare.

Hodan, a mother from the neighborhood, is eagerly awaiting the completion of the construction work:

“This space will be an opportunity for our children who previously had nowhere to play,” she says.

The economic dimension of the project is also reflected in the creation of modern commercial areas on the Moustiquaire side. These spaces, intended for small businesses, will create jobs and drive the local economy.

As a key factor in well-being, security occupies an important place in PDUI 2 ter which provides for the construction of a gendarmerie brigade specializing in the fight against violence against women and children, a major issue in this sector of the municipality of Balbala.

In addition to these infrastructures, ADDS and its technical partners will extend or complete in this new extension of PDUI 2, the electrical network in order to improve nighttime security (with lighting consoles) and the drinking water network with the installation of 200 new social connections and the installation of approximately 4 km of drinking water distribution networks.

A social component to strengthen the ongoing modernization

Beyond public infrastructure, PDUI 2 ter also places particular emphasis on the socio-economic development of residents in the beneficiary neighborhoods. Indeed, €200,000 in funding from the Community Development Fund (FDC) allows it to once again support some forty micro-projects targeting local development initiatives from various associations in the Layabley and Moustiquaire sector.

Vocational training programs are also on the agenda of PDUI 2 ter in order to promote sustainable integration of young people into the labor market.

But unlike its predecessors, PDUI 2 ter focuses on training programs in sectors that are in line with the real needs of the local market and major structural projects.

Port handling, transport and logistics professions — transport manager, transit agent, customs declarant, heavy vehicle mechanic — as well as the construction and tourism sectors are among the sectors it targets.

It is worth noting that support for local community organizations is planned within this new phase of the PDUI 2 (Urban Development Master Plan 2), in order to strengthen their role as local stakeholders. This support aims to ensure the sustainability of the socio-economic infrastructure built and to promote environmental protection, an essential element for the health and well-being of their communities. It should be recalled that the PDUI 2 ter projects, like those of the previous phases, also generate numerous direct and indirect jobs, contributing to the local economic dynamism. The construction sites mobilize a significant workforce, composed in part of residents of the neighborhoods themselves.

For workers involved in the construction of roads, markets, social facilities or the development of public spaces, the project provides a stable source of income, but also an opportunity to develop technical skills that can be reused in other sectors.

In any case, in Layabley, Moustiquaire, and their surrounding areas, the PDUI 2 ter, like its predecessors, is proving to be a true catalyst for change, symbolizing the Djiboutian government’s commitment to pursuing the “Zero Slum” program for the modernization of the capital, as outlined in the Vision 2035 of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh. If the work continues at the current pace, this sector of the Balbala municipality will become, by February 2028—the scheduled completion date for this third phase of PDUI 2—a space where residents will finally have access to the development they have long aspired to.