The official diplomatic partnership between Ethiopia and China dates back to the first official diplomatic partnership in 1970 when embassies were opened in both Beijing and Addis Ababa.
The partnership is aiming at a number of cooperation’s including capacity building and livelihood support. The bilateral partnership has been going from good to great by increasing the cooperation in a holistic approach adding financing development projects and programs, foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, and construction.
Ethio-China bilateral cooperation has started to get advanced in October 2023 when the two counterparts signed an agreement only some nations acquired. The nations developed their Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership to an all-weather Development Cooperation. Such a partnership is tied with a few nations that have the desire to work with the government of China.
The economic cooperation between the two nations is mainly focused on the development of infrastructures including railways, highways, telecommunication, and airport terminals, and industrial development, construction of electric power generating, distributing, and substations.
It is a fact that Ethiopia is undertaking a number of mega projects that are the most important elements for its overall economic development. According to reports, since 2006, Ethiopia has been building over 70 different mega projects in line with the biggest China Initiatives Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As to some statistics, the Chinese government and financial institutions allocated about 14.83 billion USD in loans, from 2006 to 2018 to implement those Ethiopian mega projects.
In addition, both the Chinese government and its companies have been working closely with Ethiopia regarding the expansion of industries and trade. In fact, Chinese companies and investors have been investing in Ethiopia’s industry sector and other different businesses. They have also invested in industrial parks found in various regions of Ethiopia and become a means for generating a huge amount of foreign currency and revenues in terms of tax for Ethiopia.
On top of that, Chinese companies have been involved in major construction projects and finished them in marvelous quality. Those companies are putting their fingerprint on many of nations’ mega projects. Railway lines, express roads and highways, suspension bridges, skyline buildings, industrial parks, sugar factories, hydropower dams, wind power plants, substations, transmission lines, the Addis Ababa riverside parks, and many other projects in Ethiopia have been constructed by Chinese companies.
Ethiopia used all financial resources from China to develop those mega projects. For instance, among the 70 projects 57 of them are infrastructural projects which cost about USD 12.2 billion (82.2 % of all loans from China). More specifically, 22 projects are transport and communication sector projects, 35 projects are power sector projects, and the remaining 13 projects are sugar factories and urban water supply projects. Thus, Ethio-China economic cooperation is comprehensive and strategic and highly contributes to Ethiopian growth and development. In today’s Ethiopia, the contributions of the People’s Republic China government and people have a paramount value, a report stated.
One of the prominent Chinese companies that have been working on profound projects in Ethiopia is China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). It is a leading global comprehensive service provider of ultra-large infrastructure, engaged mainly in the investment, construction, and operation of transportation infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, real estate, and urban comprehensive development.
It aims to provide customers with investment financing, consulting planning, design and construction, management and operation package solutions, and integrated services. CCCC is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and the company’s profitability and value-creation capability are in a leading position in the world. In 2021, CCCC ranked 61st in the Fortune Global 500.
The company has been the major contractor for many of the mega projects financed by the Ethiopian Government. A textbook example can be the company’s involvement in the expansion project of the Ethiopian Bole International Airport. The company secures the contract to build the terminal of the airport in order to expand its services. The airport is one of the largest transit points for passengers in Africa, serving more than 10,000 passengers on a daily basis.
The new terminal building of the project, which I started to construct in 2015, has been put into operation. Upon completion of the first phase of the project, the T2 terminal building’s passenger handling capacity will rise from 7 to 22 million per year. Construction of the project brought forth several job opportunities for local people.
The company’s achievement is also praised by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) back in May 2024 when the premier met with Wang Tongzhou, chairman of the CCCC, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The active engagement and construction activities of the CCCC are well noted by the Ethiopian government, and it was asked to continue to actively engage.
In a recent interview with The Ethiopian Herald Tao Hong, General Manager of CCCC stated that CCCC is finishing mega projects like the Friendship Park in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia within a short period collaborating with the Chinese and Ethiopian governments. Chinese companies like CCCC put their parks throughout the world including Ethiopia as the bond between China and Ethiopia becomes strong. The company is constructing many projects all over the country like Oromia, Amhara, and other regional states.
Those Chinese companies that are working in Ethiopia have come with their international experiences, knowledge, and skills in construction and project management. To this end, Ethiopians have many to learn from them.
Supporting the above idea, the general manager disclosed that the Chinese company is doing projects in China standard and construction skills in Ethiopia. We are showing our standards and skills to our Ethiopian workers.
“CCCC Ethiopia incorporates around 500 Chinese workers. We are transforming our knowledge and skills to Ethiopian staff. We are also organizing job fairs for university students who wish to work with the company. We are teaching Ethiopians how to manage and organize mega projects. This time, most of our Chinese staff are working in managerial positions, but in the future, the number of Chinese staff will be limited, and Ethiopians will take the positions in order to run projects. We are fully engaged in teaching them,” said the general manager.
BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 6 AUGUST 2024
