Ethiopia's First Electric Railway

Ethiopia, I landlocked country in Western Africa, now has a new and efficient railway from Addis Ababa, the capitol, to the nearest port, Djibouti, thanks to Chinese investors. Over 70% of the project was funded directly by the Chinese (The Guardian, 2016), so why were they so willing to help with a railway thousands of miles away?

China currently sees Ethiopia as a growing country, in both market size and technology, that has a high demand for Chinese products while some Ethiopian products are in high demand within China. Since Ethiopia is landlocked, before this railway, about 1,500 trucks carrying 90% of Ethiopia's exports and imports traveled a deteriorating highway from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, taking upwards of two days (The Guardian, 2016).

With the new electric railway, this trip now only takes 10 hours while increasing the amount of goods that can be shipped between the two points daily (The Guardian, 2016). The result of this will simply be the increase in trade between China and Ethiopia. Ethiopia isn't the only country China has invested in lately, with plans for a Chinese railway across Brazil and Bolivia currently in the works. I believe we will continue to this this trend by China, with other countries starting to do the same in order to keep up and compete with China's massive economy.

The Guardian (2016, October 5). Next stop the red Sea: Ethiopia opens chinese-built railway to                
       djibouti. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/06/next-stop-the-red-sea-            
       ethiopia-opens-chinese-built-railway-to-djibouti.