The government of Ethiopia has announced plans to
build a railway line that connects Ethiopia with port cities of Eritrea.
Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance Minister of
Finance said
that a feasibility study has been launched and the World Bank Group is behind the project. The studies will determine
the overall cost of the project.
The railway project will see ports of Assab and
Massawa will having direct railway links with North, East and central parts of
Ethiopia. So far, Ethiopia has rail and road or power connectivity with
Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan.
Emanuela Del Re, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation of Italy said that her government will consider being
involved in the Ethio- Eritrean railway connection.
Del Re who met with Eritrea’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Yemane Gebreab, Eritrea’s Presidential Advisor and Head of
Political Affairs had a brief meeting about development projects in both
countries and Italy pledged assistance on the preservation and protection of
the Aksum Monolithic Obelisks in Ethiopia which are currently in a deplorable
state.
The Italian Deputy Minister noted that Italy has
provided US $170m to finance development projects. The business summit which
witnessed attendances from high level government officials with 40 major
companies of Italy briefed the delegates on the ongoing reform packages in
Ethiopia.
President of Italian Trade Agency, Carlo Ferro said that Italian businesses have invested US $672bn in Ethiopia and would like to invest more.https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/06/ethiopia-to-build-railway-that-connects-with-eritrea/
