Following the right lines so far

Ethiopia's new national and city rail networks shape up for busy future

Chinese companies are spearheading operations in Ethiopia's grand plan to create a nationwide rail network for the 21st century.

Across the country, 2,000 kilometers of railway are being built, the first phase of an endeavor to create a 5,000-km nationwide rail network.

The centerpiece is the planned electrified railway to be built by a Chinese contractor between Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, and the neighboring country of Djibouti.

So far, about a quarter of preparation works have been completed on this key route, which will enable landlocked Ethiopia to access Djibouti city's port on the Horn of Africa and reduce its dependence on road transport by gas-guzzling trucks. The first track is due to be laid by next June.

Meanwhile in Addis Ababa, construction of a light railway will give the capital its first mass transit system and transform mobility in a city where nearly 90 percent of the population of 3-4 million get around on foot or by squeezing into buses and taxis.

Both projects began in early 2012 and are joint ventures between the Ethiopian government and Chinese companies that successfully bid for the $3.3 billion Addis-Djibouti contract, and the $500 million light rail project.

It is hoped the new railways will be a massive boost to Ethiopia's commercial exports and economic growth.

"If Ethiopia is able to develop properly, then all countries can come to do business," says Ke Dazhong, chief engineer at a railway sleeper pre-fabrication factory run by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, which is building the railway line to Djibouti.

The Addis-Djibouti corridor has always been an important strategic route for Ethiopia, serving both domestic and foreign trade traffic.

The new 781-km route to Djibouti, offering the shortest distance from Addis Ababa to a seaport, is expected to haul 11.2 million tons of freight in its first year of operation in 2016, rising to 24.9 million tons by 2025.

Passenger trains are also planned to run on the line, which will wind around Ethiopia's highland plateau before dropping 2,500 meters to sea level.

Dramatic views will greet passengers as trains travel at 120 kmh through a landscape of camel herds and dust devils, past the lapping waters of Lake Basaka and over the deep Awash River gorge toward the Djibouti border.

Ethiopia's varied terrain poses challenges for the route's railway engineers, as it will for those involved in phase two, constructing railway lines from Addis Ababa to Axum in the north and to Moyale in the south, on the border with Kenya.

But the benefits should be worth the pain, says Getachew Betru, general manager of Ethiopian Railways Corporation, which is overseeing the railway and light rail projects.

The new railway network will provide relief to rural areas in times of drought, link Ethiopia's economic hubs, and benefit other countries such as South Sudan that wants to export its oil via Djibouti's port, Getachew says.

Ethiopia's first and only railway line was built nearly 100 years ago during the reign of Emperor Menelik II and ran from Addis Ababa to Djibouti.

But by 2008 it had fallen into disrepair and could not be salvaged, Getachew says. At the same time, the Ethiopian government recognized how vital a good transport system was for promoting competitive trade and supporting national socio-economic development.

Ethiopia turned to the international community, resulting in Chinese companies winning the contracts, with 70 percent of costs financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and 30 percent by the Ethiopian government.

Turkish and Brazilian companies are constructing other segments of the nationwide rail network.

The lack of interest by Western companies stems in part from Ethiopia still enduring an image problem, according to some railway experts. Many companies fail to believe there are business opportunities in Ethiopia while continuing to associate the country with famine and drought, they say.

At the same time, Western companies are often nervous about participating in major projects in sub-Saharan Africa or are concerned about insufficient profits in the short term. Unlike Chinese companies, they are holding back.

"It might not look like a mistake now," says Manaye Ewunetu, managing director of London-based ME Consulting Engineers, which specializes in Africa and the Middle East. "But in the long term it could look like a mistake."

Getachew says there is every chance that a first-class train ticket to Djibouti will be available by early 2016.

Others say such a timeline is optimistic and if achieved it may well be at the expense of quality and sustainability. They note also that the costs of the first phase could rise sharply, weakening the assumption that Chinese companies offer best value.

This could provide non-Chinese companies with an opportunity to win contracts for the railway network's second phase.

Completion on schedule of the light railway by 2015 is more likely, they say, although this will not come without friction. Construction is causing havoc for businesses and traffic alike in the capital.

Having to import much of the required raw materials from China presents a significant logistical challenge, says Cai Qinhao, deputy project manager for the light railway's Chinese constructor, China Railway Group Ltd.

Also, local municipal planners have at times not anticipated some developments adequately, resulting in construction delays, and the skill level of the local labor force has required extra training. But, Cai adds, by the end of 2015 Addis Ababa should have a light railway that will compare favorably with the one in Beijing.

In addition to increased mobility, benefits to Addis Ababa's inhabitants and its businesses will include greater productivity due to workers not having to leave early to get home, says Behailu Sintayehu, ERC's general manager of the light railway project.

Currently, at the end of the working day across the city, lines of weary, frustrated workers waiting for minibuses to the suburbs stretch along roadsides.

Railway construction is picking up across Africa. There are new lines being constructed in Kenya, the Republic of Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Libya and Egypt, often to access other countries' ports. All could have important strategic implications.

"Instability will disappear in Africa once countries become economically interconnected," Getachew says.

There will also be important economic implications - one reason why the Ethiopian Railways Corporation has an institute training 500 railway engineers.

The institute is located next to La Gare, the old railway station that once served the original Addis Ababa to Djibouti line but now leases office space in the city center.

At the beginning of last century, Emperor Menelik also introduced electricity and telephones to the country during his reign, and encouraged the building of bridges, roads, schools, banks and industrial enterprises.

Much like Ethiopia's present government, the emperor's sights were set on modernization and the benefits that could bring.

"Africa is a great market," ME Consulting engineer Ewunetu says. "But unless you are on the train you will miss out."

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/06/2013 page21)