Ethiopia Opens First Metro System in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ethiopia inaugurated the first metro system in Sub-Saharan Africa, taking the first step to solve the continent-wide problem of inner-city transport in its fast-growing capital of Addis Ababa. Commuting in large African cities is largely inconvenient. Most states in Sub-Saharan Africa lack an institutionalized public transportation system. Workers of middle and lower classes are forced to find alternative methods, mostly in the form of privately owned minivans that determine rates based on distance and demand, to make their way to work every day.
“It’s really exciting,” said Behailu Sintayehu, the manager of the Light Rail Project. Mr. Sintayehu also emphasized that three years ago he did not think the project would be done by now. He added that his organization, Ethiopian Railways Corporation, is eager to open more lines.
The metro system in Addis Ababa, a city of 4 million people, was inaugurated on Sept. 21 and, according to CNN, the single open line runs 17 kilometers (11 miles) from industrial areas in the south of the capital to the city center. A second line that runs east to west across the city is still under construction. The railway system is powered by independent sources of hydropower, namely several water dams that are spread throughout the country. At full capacity, both lines will be able to transport up to 60,000 individuals at a current cost of $0.27 per passenger.
The project, as The Economist reports, was largely funded by a Chinese loan that paid 85 percent of the $475 million and was constructed in just three years with substantial foreign assistance. For the next five years, the Shenzhen Metro Group and the China Railway Engineering Corporation will manage the project.
Other cities across the continent have yet to implement transit systems. In Africa’s most heavily populated urban center, Lagos, Nigeria, plans to construct a light rail metro system have been delayed for several years, despite commitment by the World Bank to assist in development. Other big cities such as Nairobi, Kenya, have chosen to focus investment on improving road infrastructure instead.
China
Taking a closer look at this technological triumph for Ethiopia, the pattern of Chinese involvement and financing in infrastructure development across the African continent persists. According to Le Point, Chinese corporations are designing the construction of a railway project that will supposedly connect Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Not surprisingly, this investment is economically beneficial for the Chinese government since it will connect Ethiopia, a landlocked country and China’s largest partner in the region, to the sea. This will facilitate commercial business between China and an east-African economy that is growing at 10 percent per year.