With debts unpaid and Ethiopia on the brink of collapse, China's decades-old Africa strategy may be starting to change.
Illustration by Sam Ward
Sitting in the train car’s freshly upholstered seat, Ethiopia’s transport minister Workneh Gebeyehu leaned forward as he spoke to a reporter from the state broadcaster, China Central Television.
“This is really a game changer for the economy of this land,” he said, proudly.
It was October 2016, and Gebeyehu was showing off the brand new, 472-mile train line linking Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, to its neighbor on the Red Sea, Djibouti. Over 90 percent of Ethiopia’s international trade passes through the Port of Djibouti, and the Addis-Djibouti Railway promised to slash cargo trips from weeks to hours, ushering in a golden age of economic prosperity.
Billboards across Addis put it simpler: “New Railway. New Life.”
The Addis-Djibouti Railway promised new life for more than just the Horn of Africa. As a linchpin of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the railway’s Chinese backers hoped it would unlock the region’s economic potential, connectin
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