On December 9, 2025, a five-year technical consulting agreement was officially signed in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, pushing the friendship and practical cooperation between China, Ethiopia, and Djibouti across mountains and seas to a new height.

The agreement signed between China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and EDR of Ethiopia Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Company will come into effect in January 2026, marking a key new chapter in the development history of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway, known as the new era Tanzania Zambia Railway, from successful handover to sustained empowerment.

From construction and operation handover to deep technical cultivation

The signing of this agreement comes just over six months after a major milestone event for the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway. In May 2024, the Chinese team successfully completed a six-year commercial operation and maintenance service, officially handing over the key symbolizing operational management rights to EDR. This move is widely interpreted as a practical example from giving people fish to "giving people fish". According to the original plan, China will provide two years of technical guidance after the handover. The newly signed five-year agreement actually goes beyond this transitional framework, upgrading the cooperation between the two parties from transitional technical support to a long-term, systematic, and in-depth technical consulting partnership.

The deepening of cooperation in the post handover era is not accidental, but stems from the enormous value and future potential demonstrated by the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway in the past few years. As the first cross-border standard gauge electrified railway in Africa, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway has a total length of 752 kilometers, completely connecting the inland country of Ethiopia to the sea, shortening its logistics time from days to hours, reducing transportation costs by at least 30%, and undertaking about 40% of the country's import and export freight volume. It is not only a transportation artery, but also gave birth to the Yaji model of railway+port+industrial park, becoming a golden corridor for driving regional economic development. During the six-year operation period, over 3000 Ethiopian and Djiboutian employees received systematic training, achieving comprehensive localization of positions from drivers, dispatchers to middle and senior management. China Railway Construction Chairman Dai Hegen has stated that technical guidance will continue to be provided after the project handover. This agreement is the concrete and long-term manifestation of this commitment, with the aim of further consolidating the foundation for the sustainable development of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway.

Comprehensive empowerment beyond railways

According to the agreement, the cooperation in the next five years will go beyond simple railway operation and maintenance, and expand into broader infrastructure areas and deeper level capacity building.

Firstly, the areas of cooperation will become more three-dimensional. Both sides will focus on upgrading railway infrastructure and developing logistics hubs such as ports and terminals. EDR CEO Tucker Uma has made it clear that this collaboration will provide technical support for key projects in multiple fields such as highways, railways, and ports in Ethiopia in the future. This indicates that the successful experience of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway and the professional capabilities of China Civil Engineering are expected to provide support for a larger connectivity plan in the East African region.

Secondly, the goal of talent cultivation is more autonomous. Li Qingyong, General Manager of China Civil Engineering Ethiopia Company, emphasized that the technical services under the new agreement will include customized training programs, with the ultimate goal of enabling Ethiopian technicians to independently and sustainably manage and operate the railway network. This goes further than simple technological output, aiming to help Ethiopia build an independent, mature, and sustainable transportation technology and management system, injecting endogenous power into the country's long-term development.

From project success to standard integration

The evolution of the Yaji Railway and its cooperation model has already surpassed the significance of a railway itself. It was written into the joint communiqu é of the second the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and became a model case. At the beginning of its construction, it successfully promoted China's railway technology standards to go global for the first time and withstood the rigorous test of climbing from Djibouti Port at an altitude of 10 meters to Addis Ababa at an altitude of 2274 meters. Nowadays, it provides a complete closed-loop sample from integrated construction and operation to technological empowerment for international capacity cooperation and global development initiatives. Keywords: the Belt and Road news, the Belt and Road project information

This five-year new collaboration project sets a new benchmark for sustainable infrastructure development. It closely integrates world-class professional experience with Ethiopia's vision of building a modern and self-sufficient transportation network. For China's the Belt and Road Initiative, it marks that China Africa cooperation is moving from building projects to operating projects and achieving sustainable development. For Ethiopia and Djibouti, this lifeline that once gave them economic vitality will continue to drive the country's industrialization and modernization dreams on a more solid technological foundation, and write a new chapter of common development in the Horn of East Africa.Editor/Cheng Liting