Habiba Testafadi has seen Ethiopia grow from a war-torn country to a thriving economic powerhouse on the continent in her 63 years.

Testafadi is happy with the recent economic developments in her country. As a small farmer, of particular interest to her is the progress being made to the country's road network.

Last year, the Ethiopian Government announced an ambitious plan to double its road network to 200,000 km by 2020 through the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) via the Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP-II), which runs from 2015 to 2020. This is expected to boost economic development by connecting the hinterland with cities in the landlocked country and attracting foreign investment, especially from China.

"As a small scale farmer in Hossanna City [in south Ethiopia], I grow pumpkins, bananas, and mangos on my farm and now transport of my produce to [the capital] Addis Ababa is very easy and at a reduced cost. The new road network that is being built by China covers about 182 km", said Testafadi who owns a 2-acre (0.81-hectare) farm.

According to the ERA, the road network of tarmacked roads of the country was 121,117 km last year.

Chinese assistance 

Habtamu Tegegne, Director General of ERA, said late last year that three Chinese companies, China Railway 21st Bureau Group Co. Ltd., China State Construction Engrg. Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd., have signed a deal with Ethiopia to construct five new road projects worth $4 billion and construction has already begun.

"A railway line and a total of 100,000 km of roads are expected to be complete and operational by May 2020. Ethiopia has come a long way considering that in 1990 there were just 19,000 km of roads," said Tegegne.

The initiative to increase the road network falls under the government development plan GTP-II. Already, under the plan, a 750-km electrified railway line from Addis Ababa to the port city of Djibouti is fully operational. A 200-km expressway in Hawassa in south Ethiopia is also in service.

Tegegne said there are several projects under the initiative. For instance, the 6-gw Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is nearing completion on the Nile River.

"We have to complete about 100,000 km of roads by May 2020 under the initiative. This means that our road network will [almost] double and 90 percent of the roads will be made of asphalt", added Tegegne.

Wei Qiangyu, Deputy General Manager of China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. East Africa Branch said his company will build two of the five road projects, employ strict quality control and ensure the projects are completed on time.

"The focus for executing the projects will be ensuring quality and timely delivery," said Wei. "Full attention will be paid to proper management of environmental control and fulfilling our social responsibilities to incorporate more involvement of local professionals as well as focusing on knowledge transfer."

Wei told Xinhua News Agency that his company, which recently celebrated 20 years presence in Ethiopia, has been able to survive and expand because it endeavors to carry out projects professionally.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia's economy is among the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world and it has grown 10-fold in a span of just 10 years. Its GDP stands at $80 billion in 2017, overtaking neighboring Kenya and making it the largest economy in East Africa.

Vast potential 

Despite the country being landlocked, it has achieved a lot in recent years. "Chinese investments have further helped it grow. The Chinese have invested a lot in the road network of Ethiopia linking rural towns to the capital city," said Harris Mule, an economist based in Kenya. "Direct investment by China in Ethiopia was about $4.8 billion by the end of November 2018. A road network valued at more than $4 billion is something Ethiopia should boast about."

Mule said that China's investments in Ethiopia within the next 10 years could even reach $23 billion if the current economic growth trend and political stability continue.

According to the World Bank, bilateral trade between Ethiopia and China stands at around $1.75 billion in 2017. Ethiopia exports goods valued at around $250 million to China, while China exports about $1.5 billion worth of goods to the Horn-of-Africa country.

Some of the products that Ethiopia exports to China include textiles, coffee, oil seeds, fruits, vegetables, natural gum, and leather. The World Bank estimates the country to be the 117th largest exporter in the world with a GDP growth rate of an impressive 10.4 percent annually up to 2016. The country boasted 10.9 percent growth in 2017.

"We want our country to be industrialized as soon as possible. The road network is helping our rural population [improve transportation of agricultural produce and increase development inland]. They represent 80 percent of the 102 million inhabitants of this great country. We want to have the largest road network in the region within the soonest time possible," said Tegegne.

He said that considering the country's large land mass of 1,104 million square km, a lot of the areas are still affected by insecurity, but that it will just be a matter of time before this problem will be solved.

"We are still getting a lot of competition from African countries such as Kenya, but we have overtaken them as the largest economy in the region. What we now need to do is to improve our value addition. That is how we can surpass many of our fellow African countries," he said. "A lot of Chinese companies continue to invest in our country and we encourage foreign direct investment. No country can achieve this alone."

(Reporting from Ethiopia)

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