Ethio – Djibouti railway has secured more than $20 million in revenue from its freighter and passenger train services over the past eight months.
Chinese embassy in Addis Ababa organized a media open–tour in the Chinese built railway and investments on Adama industrial park on Wednesday, according to a report delivered during the occasion the freighter and commuter have gained revenue of 19.9 million and $537,400 since January up to July 2019 with the passenger train transporting 39,000 commuters.
Chinese ambassador to Ethiopian Tan Jian said the rail way is so important because land locked Ethiopia’s 95 percent import and export passes through Djibouti.
“We see this railway not only as a line of transportation, it is the artery, it is the life line and the economic corridor. This railway is related to your industrialization and to your development,” he articulated.
The 750 kilometers Ethio–Djibouti standard gauge Railway, which was built jointly by Ethiopia and Djibouti started operation no January 1, 2018 and is accelerating its impact on economy.
It has created a convenient transportation corridor for the import and export goods of Ethiopia through it.
Stating that 9 industrial parks out of 15 are along the railway line, Ambassador Jian noted “this is not just a line it is a corridor and we do believe that this corridor can be game changer for economic development.
The passenger train, which passes through 19 stations in 15 hours to arrive in Nagad, Djibouti has different compartments, namely hard – seat, hard – berth and soft berth compartments.
EDR Director General Engineer Tilahun Sarka said that the past year was promising as the railway managed to move 800 trains.
“The first year operation which means 2018 is really promising we managed to move some 800 trains and we earned revenue of around $35 million” he pointed out.”
There are 900 Ethiopians and 250 Djiboutian working at the railway, it was learned. During the media tour, local and international journalists have also paid a visit to Chinese investments in Adama industrial park.
Sunshine Wool textile Plc, which is one of the Chinese companies in the industrial park, is advancing to export products worth $10 million annually and while expected to top $50 million. Sunshine, which is anticipated to invest $980 million in two phases, has created 2,000 jobs and is expected to reach 7,000 in the completion of the first phase.
Source ENA.