It became also a theme for the press-briefing of the Chinese FM, in China.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_6 ... 04435.htmlCRI: It’s reported that a ceremony was held in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, for the official transfer of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway. The event also reviewed the performance of the railway over the past six years and envisioned its future. What’s China’s comment?
Wang Wenbin: The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway is the first standard gauge electrified transnational railway in East Africa. It is also a flagship project of Belt and Road cooperation between China, Ethiopia and Djibouti. We have prepared some slides to share more with you about the cooperation on the project.
Since its operation, the railway has created over 55,000 local jobs, greatly boosted connectivity between Ethiopia and Djibouti and injected strong impetus into the economic and social development of the two countries.
As we in China often say, it is more important to teach people how to fish than just giving them fish. The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway is the best example in this regard. China not only worked with Ethiopia and Djibouti to build a modern railway, but also trained and accredited more than 2,800 local workers in the past six years, helping to build a capable local team. The handover ceremony marked the successful completion of the Chinese team’s participation in the operation and maintenance of the railway and a new beginning of the railway as the African team fully took over its operation. China will continue to work with the two countries to continue the success of this railway, so that it leads to more prosperity and mutually beneficial cooperation and progress of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa, and contribute to our common development.
This is all good, but it should be also emphasized that the enterprise is still not making a profit and China has reportedly extended the pay-back term from the initial 10 years period to now 30 years period, to compensate.
The locals are still not much comfortable with train-travel, it seems to me, in over 6 years of service not even 1 million travelers have used it.
On the positive side the overtake of operation/management of the service will give a key local skill to the citizens of the two recipient nations. This is a useful skill for the future development endeavor of the nation. It is also a futuristic enterprise, as the the whole train system is an electrified train operation.
