(Abate Hailu) In a bid to keeping the current growth momentum and providing modern and reliable railway service, Ethiopia is in due process of revitalizing its railway transport sector.

As part of the effort, Ethiopian Railway Corporation is working to construct 5000km-long railway line in the country over the coming ten years, of which 2300km would be built until 2017.

The Corporation on Friday cncluded over 1.18b Birr agreement with China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation for the construction the 339km-long Mi’eso –Dawale railway line.

Mi’eso –Dawale railway project is part of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway project. General Manager of Ethiopian Railway Corporation, Dr. Engineer Getachew Betru told ERTA that surveying of the project has been done by local companies.

He said the railway facility would help boost trade exchange between Ethiopia and other countries. President of China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation, Mr. Yuan Li for his part said he is confident that the Corporation would complete the project on time.

China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation is the second biggest railway company in China.


Reuters Report Here

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Ethiopia signed an agreement with a Chinese state-run firm to build the final section of a railway line that will link its capital Addis Ababa to the tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti, an official said.

The deal signed late on Friday with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) covers a 339-kilometre line that will join another project to connect the capital with Djibouti.

"This agreement is a contract to construct between Mieso, which is half way from Addis Ababa, to the Djibouti border," Getachew Betru, general manager of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation, told Reuters.

Ethiopia and Djibouti's economies are reliant on each other with about 70 percent of all trade through Djibouti's port coming from its land-locked neighour.

CCECC and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) have won tenders for other sections of the 656-kilometre build. Those companies have brokered loans for Ethiopia from China's EXIM Bank, Development Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Getachew said.

Ethiopia, which aims to construct 5,000 kilometres of railway lines in the huge country by 2020, says companies from BRIC nations have shown an interest in other projects.

The Horn of Africa country has posted high economic growth rates over the past five years and hopes to exploit growing business ties with China, India and Turkey to boost its expanding economy.

Under a five-year development plan launched last year, Ethiopia aims to boost infrastructure with a plan to increase power production from 2,000MW to 10,000MW and ambitions for 2,600 kilometres of railway lines by 2015.

"We have called on companies from the BRIC countries to be involved in the other projects. They have shown a considerable interest to get into tenders," Getachew said.

Getachew said Ethiopia will use some of its own funds to cover costs of the projects alongside loans secured from banks.

Ethiopia is looking for long-term loans that could either be on preferential or commercial terms, he said.

It also plans to construct an inter-city light rail system in Addis Ababa.

(Editing by Barry Malone, John Stonestreet)