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China hands over the keys to the railway as African countries take control of 2 major belt and road projects
- The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway have both had recent handovers from Chinese operators
- Observers say training workers is part of China’s localisation strategy, but it does not include key knowledge that would jeopardise future projects
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China is handing over control of two key African belt and road railways to the governments of Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, after years of training and observation in the operation of the infrastructure projects.
Recently, Chinese operators for the 752km (467 mile) railway linking Ethiopia and Djibouti handed it over to the Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDR) after six years of operation.
Likewise, in Kenya, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has so far transferred more than 90 per cent of the operations of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway to Kenya Railways Corporation, the country’s national railway, and expects to complete the handover next year.
In anticipation for such handovers, Chinese operators of major Belt and Road Initiative projects across Africa are training thousands of local workers, passing on skills and knowledge in the running and maintenance of the infrastructure. This, observers have said, is part of a localisation strategy, which is, in turn, part of China’s wider efforts to promote its development model.
But it only goes so far. Observers added that knowledge transfer remains “partial” so as not to give away too much and jeopardise future projects.
The Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway, also known as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, was built by a joint consortium of China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) and China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC) at a cost of US$4.5 billion. Some US$2.5 billion of this was financed by China Eximbank.
The railroad – the first electrified transnational railway in Eastern Africa – begins in Addis Ababa, the capital of landlocked Ethiopia, and runs to the Port of Doraleh in neighbouring Djibouti, which is strategically located at the point where the Red Sea meets the Indian Ocean. China has invested heavily in Djibouti’s maritime industry, and set up its first overseas military base there in 2017.
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