The Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDR) has revealed an income of 2.5 billion Ethiopian birrs equivalent 47.4 million U.S. dollars as the company was able to transport over 500,000 metric tons of cargo in the past five months.
According to Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), the chief executive officer (CEO) of the EDR, Abdi Zenebe, said EDR made around $50 million in income within five months of operation.
Abdi said the Chinese-built 752.7-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway was able to transport more than 500,000 metric tons of cargo in the past five months giving a reason for the huge profit margin.
In comparison to the previous year which is Ethiopian fiscal year, the income was about 600 million Ethiopian birr increase according to the report released on Monday.
This simply means that EDR, in terms of performance, has contributed immensely to the overall export and import trade of the East African country’s from 11.2 percent to 15 percent.
The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway EDR has been transporting some major commodities including fertilizers, edible oil, wheat, and vehicles making a greater impact on the export and import index in the region.
The transport company which began operation August last year, concentrated on vehicle shipment from ports in Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
Zenebe said the first shipment of vehicles from Djibouti to Ethiopia attested to the EDR’s commitment to diversify its transportation services.
The movement of imported commodities from ports in Djibouti to central Ethiopia and exported items from Ethiopia to the rest of the world via ports in Djibouti is part of the railway’s recent successes in its performance.
The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, which was jointly built by the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), is presently managed by experts drawn from the two Chinese companies for a period of six years.
A month ago, the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Share Company (EDR) announced that another batch of 34 Ethiopian trainees will be given six months of training in Zhengzhou Railway Vocational and Technical College.
They are expected to replace the current Chinese captain of Ethio-Djibouti Railway
