http://www.dailyjournal.net/2016/10/05/af-ethiopia-railway-and-unrest/
Ethiopia’s new coastal rail link runs through restive region
By ELIAS MESERET -
10/5/16 11:15 AM
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The timing is uncomfortable. One of Africa’s
best-performing economies on Wednesday launched its latest massive
infrastructure project, a railway linking the landlocked country with
a major port on the Gulf of Aden. But it came just days after dozens
were killed in anti-government protests in the region the railway runs
through.
The new line between Ethiopia and the small coastal nation of
Djibouti, the portal for almost all of Ethiopia’s imports, is one of
several high-profile projects that have attracted Chinese and Turkish
investors, among others, as foreign investment climbed to more than $2
billion last year.
But Sunday’s deadly stampede brought international attention of
another kind. And on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy confirmed that an
American had been killed Tuesday by a rock thrown by “unknown
individuals” in the same troubled region.
Anger in the Oromia region began a year ago, against a government plan
to take farmland and incorporate it into the capital, Addis Ababa, to
help shift the largely rural country’s economy from agriculture to
manufacturing. The plan was dropped, but the protests have widened to
demand wider freedoms and the release of detained activists and
journalists.
The unrest has disrupted Ethiopia’s business boom: In some cases, both
foreign and local companies have been targeted by protesters who have
accused them of government ties. On Tuesday, Oromia’s regional
government said protesters attacked a cement factory owned by
Nigeria’s richest man, multibillionaire Aliko Dangote, in response to
Sunday’s deadly stampede.
While economic growth has slowed after averaging more than 10 percent
in the decade through 2014, it has remained what the U.S. last year
called “impressive.”
Ethiopia is set to become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s four major
manufacturing hubs along with South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, said
Zemedeneh Negatu, managing partner at Ernst & Young’s office in Addis
Ababa. The new railway will help, he said.
The railway is a result, in part, of past unrest. Ethiopia shifted its
import focus to Djibouti after its border war with Eritrea between
1998 and 2000 created tensions that remain today.
These days, more than 95 percent of Ethiopia’s imports come through
Djibouti port, the director-general of Ethiopia’s Maritime Authority,
Mekonnen Abera, told The Associated Press.
“This railway line will greatly reduce the travel time between the two
countries and will contribute to the development of Ethiopia’s
hinterland,” said Dereje Tefera, spokesman for the Ethiopian Railway
Corporation. “It is an electrified system and environmentally
friendly. This is what makes it different from other railway projects
in Africa.”
Officials hope the railway will help ease the notorious road traffic
from hundreds of trucks that transport goods daily.
According to Ethiopian officials, the 656-kilometer (408-mile) railway
inside Ethiopia, constructed at a cost of $3.4 billion, will shorten a
three-day journey to just 12 to 15 hours. The length of the railway
line in Djibouti is 100 kilometers (62 miles), Dereje said.
Once the line is fully operational, it will be able to transport up to
5,600 people per day and carry up to 3,500 tons of goods at a time.
The railway section in Ethiopia, which was completed in three and half
years, received 70 percent of its financing through China’s EximBank
while the Ethiopian government covered the rest. Two Chinese companies
were selected to carry out the construction, and the locomotives were
imported from China.
During a recent tour for journalists, the Chinese conductors and
attendants who will run the system for at least six months received
their first guests with a smile.
Ethiopia’s other infrastructure development projects are aimed at
bringing in yet more foreign investment.
They include the Grand Renaissance Dam, which will be Africa’s biggest
hydropower plant. And a year ago, the country completed Africa’s
newest light railway transit system that connects four parts of Addis
Ababa. Another railway system is being built across the country by a
Turkish company as Ethiopia aspires to link to connect to more of its
neighbors by rail.
The large-scale projects do come with risks. A World Bank report
released last month says Ethiopia “could see a notable increase in
government debt as the government continued to borrow to finance an
ambitious infrastructure program.”
And the protests in Oromia and elsewhere are a growing concern for a
country that has promoted itself to investors as “one of the most
stable countries in Africa.”
Received on Wed Oct 05 2016 - 11:10:41 EDT