Ethiopia, Djibouti to mark two-year anniversary of Chinese-built railway

Ethiopia and Djibouti are set to mark two years' operational anniversary of Africa's first fully-electrified transnational railway in January 2020, Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported.

It said Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges and Djibouti's Minister of Equipment and Transport Moussa Mohammed Ahmed had recently discussed on achievements of the Ethio-Djibouti railway over the last two years as well as plans for the future, including cost-sharing for the project.

Safety of railway transport, tariffs, and provision of reliable electricity needed to power the electrified rail were also among the agendas of the ministerial discussion, it reported.

"Joint management of railway, maritime, aviation and road transports that link the two counties would help both sides to facilitate their import-export trades," FBC quoted Ethiopia's transport minister as saying during the discussions.

The 756-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway was jointly built by two Chinese companies, and connected landlocked Ethiopia to the Red Sea nation Djibouti.

The railway, which is presently managed by experts drawn from the two Chinese companies for a period of six years, commenced operations for both passenger and freight services in January 2018.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Share Company recently disclosed its ambition to become Africa's leader in modern train operations amid robust knowledge transfer efforts from China.