China-led railway project connects 2 African nations

High leaders, dignitaries mark opening of service between Ethiopia, Djibouti port

In the 1970s, China anchored the construction of the Tazara railway linking Tanzania and Zambia - a project that greatly boosted the two countries' economies. A little more than 40 years later, a new episode of railway history was written, again with a Chinese helping hand, as East Africa's first modern electrified standard gauge railway was inaugurated on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 750-kilometer railway, built by two Chinese companies and mainly financed by a Chinese bank, links Addis Ababa to the Red Sea port city of Djibouti. Designed for a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, it is expected to reduce travel time from seven days by road to about 10 hours, and provide landlocked Ethiopia with a faster access to the Djibouti port.