This archive report was first published on 16 June 2020.
Published on June 16, 2020, the Ethiopian government has unveiled plans to conduct a $3.4 million feasibility study for a new standard gauge railway project that would link Addis Ababa with Khartoum, Sudan.
The project, which aims to open a new trade route through the Port of Sudan, is expected to be completed within 24 months. The study will assess the technical, economic, environmental, and social viability of the proposed project and explore financing options such as a public-private partnership (PPP).
According to the African Development Bank, the proposed Ethiopia-Sudan SGR aims to deepen regional integration through improved transport infrastructure that will increase trade between the two countries.
The project will run along the Addis Ababa, Awash-Kombolcha-Weldiya, Wereta-Gonder-Metema-Galabat-Gadarif-Kassala-Haiya route to Port of Sudan, a distance of 1,522 kilometres.
The proposed project is linked to the planned development of special economic zones in the border regions of the two countries, which are intended to enhance production of local goods, industrialisation, and agro-processing.
