State Grid Corporation of China to invest $1.8bn in Ethiopia’s power project

China is all set to pump out a gargantuan amount of USD 1.8 billion in Ethiopia's electric power transmission and distribution lines.

The USD 1.8 billion investment will be accomplished by the State Grid Corporation of China. In a recent visit to China's capital, Beijing, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed met the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, which is commonly known as Sinosure. The top officials of Sinosure vowed their full cooperation, mainly in enabling the materialization of the investment in energy by the State Grid Corporation of China.

According to New Business Ethiopia, this East African country is one of the highly indebted nations with the maximum amount of funds coming from China. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also had a discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the restructuring of Chinese debt. Reports from Beijing reveal that China has agreed to cancel all interest accumulated from its debt – estimated b/n USD 12 billion to USD 20 billion.

On the other hand, Ahmed also met with the leaders of China Railway Construction Corporation in Beijing on the sidelines of Belt and Road Forum. China Railway Construction Corporation are quite interested to invest in Ethiopia in varied sectors such as oil and gas, agro-industry parks, Sheger River project to name a few. Currently, China Railway Construction Corporation is involved in the construction and development of railway project connecting Ethiopia to its neighbouring country, Djibouti.

Also Read: Two Chinese-built hydro power projects in Ethiopia to be commissioned in Q2 2019