On March 8, local time, the fifth anniversary of the commercial operation of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and the award ceremony of the locomotive medal were held at Addis Ababa Station, the capital of Ethiopia. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" initiative. As a landmark project of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway also ushered in the fifth anniversary of its opening and operation.
Zhao Zhiyuan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Sid, Minister of the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Co., Ltd., Hasan, Minister of the Infrastructure and Equipment Department of Djibouti, and Liu Weimin, Chairman of the Civil Engineering Corporation of China, jointly attended the series of activities on the fifth anniversary of the opening and operation of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, which is led and operated by China Civil Engineering Corporation of China Railway Construction, is another transnational railway built by China in Africa after the Tanzania-Zambia Railway. It is also the first transnational electrified railway in Africa, with a total length of 752 kilometers, spanning two countries in Africa, starting from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, in the west and ending at the port of Djibouti in the east. It is known as the "Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the new era". Ethiopia is located in the northeast of Africa, Addis Ababa is the capital of the country, and the headquarters of the African Union is located here. The train on the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway starts from here every day. After running at 120 kilometers per hour for more than six hours, it can reach the port of neighboring Djibouti, turning Ethiopia, a "land locked country", into a "land linked country", greatly improving the connectivity and economic development of the Horn of Africa region.
The Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway is not only the flagship project of China Africa cooperation under the "the Belt and Road" initiative, but also a pure Chinese railway with "Made in China" in the whole process of financing support, design standards, equipment procurement, construction and operation. Since its commercial operation in 2018, the number of passengers sent by the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway has continued to increase, and the transport revenue has maintained a rapid growth of more than 35% per year. From construction to operation, it provided 55000 jobs for Ethiopia and Djibouti, and trained more than 3000 professional and technical personnel in railway; Up to now, 107 local train drivers have been trained in three batches, including Gilma, the first female train driver of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway.
The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway not only shoulders the important mission of accelerating regional revitalization and overcoming development challenges in the "Concept of Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa", but also makes outstanding contributions to the economic development of Ethiopia and Djibouti.
In recent years, as the price of the international crude oil market continues to rise, the Ethiopian government has experienced severe fuel shortage one after another. When many gas stations have no oil supply and road transportation is basically stopped, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway takes advantage of electrification, overcomes many difficulties caused by the shortage of diesel oil, and actively organizes the transportation of edible oil, fertilizer and other materials; During the COVID-19, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway has always kept smooth operation, and timely distributed all kinds of epidemic prevention and livelihood materials. This railway has become the main artery of the national economy of Ethiopia and Djibouti, and the lifeline of the East African Plateau. In April 2019, during the second "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway Economic Corridor and industrial parks along the route were included in the joint communiqu é of the Forum Round Table Summit, which is the first project in the category of "economic corridors driven and supported by connectivity".
