Africa , is expected to increase the efficiency and cargo / container volumes to and from Ethiopia .
After Ethiopia achieved the notoriety of being the fastest-growing economy in Eastern Africa and Horn of Africa region , container volumes through Djibouti have increased from 176,453 in 2002 to 854,851 in 2014 according to Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority , the port ’ s operator .
In 2014 , Ethiopia ordered 32 freight trains for the $ 4bn SGR line , for which construction commenced in 2013 and was completed in 2016 to ease movement of goods to and from the country to the Djibouti port .
This new electrified SGR line is likely to significantly reduce the current 1,500 trucks that move cargo / containers daily to and from Addis Ababa and Djibouti , thus saving on transport costs , reducing carbon emissions and shortening the period it takes to move goods on the corridor from three and half days to 10 hours .
Ethiopia Railways Corporation , the country ’ s railway operator , anticipates 6-7mn tonnes of cargo in the first year of the SGR operation . China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation have won a six-year contract to operate the new railway line that will see freight trains move 3,500 tonnes to and from Addis Ababa .
Ethiopia , which is expected to achieve gross domestic product growth of 8.3 % in 2017 compared to the global average growth of 2.7 % for the same year , is constructing in phases the other SGR networks to connect to the neighboring countries of Kenya , South Sudan and Uganda , providing a link to the ports of Tadjoura in Djibouti , and Mombasa in Kenya .
Already the government of Ethiopia has awarded Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi , Chinese contractor China Communications Construction Company , and Overseas Infrastructure Alliance of India the contract for the construction of Awash , on the way between Addis Ababa and Djibouti , to Mekelle , a project that is expected online by the end of 2018 .
Kenya , Ethiopia and Djibouti could soon turn into the region ’ s preferred business destination with the efficiency in the movement of exports and imports and the associated cheaper logistics costs which support the anticipated economic growth in each of these countries .
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