Yapı Merkezi is promising more railway projects in Africa’s future. The construction company is currently working on a project that will connect Ethiopia and Tanzania via railway. The 3,910 km (2,430-mile) Awash-Kombolcha-Hara Gebya single-line railway project, which began in 2015 at a cost of $1.7 billion will link northern and eastern Ethiopia and also connect to a central rail network which stretches to the port of Djibouti. The latest Ethiopian and Tanzanian standard-gauge railroad contract is the first African mega project for the company. This railways will be incredibly beneficial for landlocked Ethiopia, as it will provide greater access to sea and major trade routes passing through the Bab al Mandab Strait. Furthermore, the line will enhance the country’s internal and external freight and passenger transportation capacity. With the railway, the project will construct 12 tunnels, 51 bridges, 14 overpasses and one underpass. The project is expected to be completed in 2020.
The project has created a mass of job opportunities. Currently, there are 7,200 people are employed in the project, of which 4,600 are Ethiopian and 2,200 are Turkish nationals, whereas 400 workers are being employed from other countries.
Meles Alem, spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Turkish involvement in Ethiopia’s development projects “are the outcome of the excellent relations both countries enjoy”.
African growth
Yapi Merkezi is currently underway with a $1.9 billion railway project in Tanzania that will connect Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. Of the two projects, Financial Affairs Manager Murat Öcal says “These projects will be a good reference for other African countries who will build similar projects, and we will be a trusted development partner of Africa.” He continues by saying that “We will provide durable European-standard technologies, empower local professionals with knowledge, and try to attract multiple financers.”
The development of these projects will be greater facilitated by the “strong growth projections over the next four decades,” predicted by the African Development Bank.
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