Recently, the Chinese management contractor of the Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway officially handed over the railway management and operation rights to Ethiopia and Djibouti, ending six years of successful operation.

On this occasion, senior government officials of Ethiopia and Djibouti, the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, and the management contractor of the 752-kilometer transnational electrified railway celebrated the historic milestone of the "turnkey ceremony" at the Loeb Railway Station on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Minister of Transport and Logistics Alemu Sim said the railway has been playing an important infrastructure role since it began operations in January 2018, promoting connectivity between the two Horn of Africa countries. "Its establishment is a testament to the spirit of cooperation and shared pursuit of progress between the two countries. The successful completion and operation of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway has greatly facilitated trade between the two countries and fostered closer ties."

He said the important railway infrastructure facilitates efficient cargo transportation by Chinese managed contractors, thereby reducing costs and opening up new avenues for economic growth and development in both countries.

Abdi Zenebe, CEO of Eji Railway Joint Stock Company, said that the railway is a manifestation of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and a mutually beneficial cooperation platform that promotes the economic and social development of various countries. Two connected countries.

“Six years ago, we embarked on a journey to connect the two great countries of Ethiopia and Djibouti. The EDR was born out of a vision of progress, prosperity and regional integration. Today, as we celebrate the successful operation and maintenance of this railway, we Reflecting on the excellence we have achieved,” he said.

He further reiterated that EDR will continue its efforts to strengthen its capacity building programs to become a center of excellence for nurturing talent, upskilling and empowering employees.Hassan Humaid, Djibouti's Minister of Infrastructure and Equipment, praised the railway's role in reducing transport times and costs and its contribution to job creation.

He said the railway's fast and streamlined transport system enabled the port state of Djibouti's infrastructure to ease port congestion and improve passenger comfort and safety, while forgetting its laudable role in environmental protection.

Data from the Chinese management contractor show that in the past six years, the railway has operated more than 2,500 passenger trains, carrying 680,000 passengers; it has operated more than 7,700 freight trains, with a freight volume of 9.5 million tons in the same period.The electrified railway has shortened the freight transportation time between Ethiopia and Djibouti from more than three days to less than 20 hours, reducing the cost by at least one-third.

At the same time, the railway has created a large number of local job opportunities and realized the localization of the labor force, employing more than 3,000 local employees.

"The Chinese team is making every effort to promote capacity building. A total of 2,840 personnel have been trained and certified, and the localization of various professions in the fields of railway operation, maintenance, and safety management has been achieved." The railway also performs maintenance with another company, China Railway Engineering Corporation.

Guo said the management contractor, focusing on the future development of the railway, arranged leadership training for about 200 middle and senior managers and further trained about 100 local Chinese managers.

Ethiopia is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa. It participates in international maritime trade through ports in neighboring countries. The Egyptian Trade Corridor is Ethiopia's main gateway. About 90% of Ethiopia's import and export trade occurs through this corridor.

Eji Railway revenue exceeds nine-month target

Ejibouti Railways (EDR) has revealed that it earned close to 3 billion birr in Ethiopia during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. In an interview with the Ethiopian News Agency, Abdi Zenebe, CEO of Ethiopian Railways, revealed that revenue increased by 67 million birr compared with the same period last year.

According to him, Eji Railway has generated revenue of 2.84 billion birr from rail services in the past nine months.

Highlighting EDR's impressive financial performance, the CEO said the company had successfully achieved its revenue targets for the stated period, registering a growth rate of 3% compared to the previous year.

"Tax collection in the past nine months increased by 67 million birr, a growth rate of 3% compared to 2.17 billion birr in the same period last year," Abdi said.

Given the significant revenue growth in the first nine months, the CEO is confident that this revenue will play a vital role in sustaining the company's operations and promoting the development of the entire transportation sector.

Abdi also shared details about EDR’s performance in both passenger and cargo traffic, adding that the company had successfully transported more than 148,600 passengers in the past nine months."In nine months, the number of passengers traveling to different destinations increased by 19,664. This is a 15% increase compared to 129,000 passengers in the same period last year," he said.

Despite challenges such as shunting locomotive failure, gantry crane outages, and the security situation in the Red Sea region, EDR still successfully transported 1.442 million tons of cargo in and out of the port. Abdi acknowledged the existence of these obstacles and commended the entire team for their resilience and dedication in overcoming them and ensuring the smooth flow of goods.Looking ahead, he stressed that EDR is committed to addressing key areas of concern, including spare parts procurement, foreign exchange fluctuations, shortage of logistics resources, and lack of automated office systems.

"We recognize the obstacles we have overcome and we are fully committed to implementing the necessary measures to ensure seamless operations and continued growth," the CEO promised.

According to reports, the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Joint Stock Company was established in April 2017 based on a bilateral agreement signed between Ethiopia and Djibouti, with an initial capital investment of US$500 million.The company started providing passenger and freight services on January 1, 2018. The Egyptian Railway has a total length of 756 kilometers and has 35 electric locomotives, 6 diesel shunting locomotives, 30 passenger cars and 1,100 freight cars.Editor/Zhao E