Ethiopian exporters are still paying for a war they did not start. With Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb traffic thinned by Houthi threats and wider Gulf risk, coffee and other cargo that used to clear the Gate of Tears in about a month now often takes two on Cape of Good Hope diversions, according to traders and freight forwarders interviewed by Ethiopian Business Review.<\/p>\n
Tadese Melaku, coffee trade manager at Horra Trading, told EBR his firm leans on MSC\u2019s longer southern route to keep product moving. Buyers complain about quality fade on the extra weeks at sea. Djibouti congestion stacks dollar storage fees on top. Forwarders quoted about $1,500 in extra import charges per 20-foot container once Cape diversion freight, port delays, and multi-stop USD costs pile up. War risk insurance and emergency surcharges, which Birr Metrics tracked earlier in 2026 at up to $2,000 a box after Hormuz and Red Sea shocks, are the other half of the bill.<\/p>\n
That math lands hardest on a landlocked importer that still funnels most seaborne trade through Djibouti. Abiy Ahmed\u2019s government keeps talking multimodal reform and second-port options. The corridor on the water is where the price is set, and Cape detours are the market\u2019s blunt answer when underwriters and liners refuse ordinary Red Sea schedules. Coffee earns the hard currency Ethiopian factories need for inputs. Stretch the voyage, raise the freight, and the same regime that sells reform speeches quietly taxes every sack that still has to find a ship.<\/p>\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n Ethiopian Business Review<\/a><\/p>\n