Key projects launched as part of Belt and Road Initiative

Rail link thrives

Another milestone project, the 752-km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway, which links Djibouti and the Ethiopian capital, has also helped transportation and industrialization in the two nations.

The line, which officially began operating in 2018, means that goods imported from Djibouti now arrive in Addis Ababa within a day, less than half the time taken by road. The rail freight costs are also much lower.

Several industrial parks have been built along the line. As the first cross-border electrified railway in Africa, the line is playing an increasingly important role in regional integration and economic development.

Teshome Toga, the Ethiopian ambassador to China, said, "The Belt and Road Initiative is clearly helping us in terms of infrastructure development, which means connectivity. It also enhances industrialization and boosts our exports." The envoy added that the Ethiopian government will continue to support the initiative.

"We are cooperating with China in every sector, ranging from finance to technology transfer, human resources development, trade, arts and culture. We hope bilateral cooperation will pick up," Toga said.

Port poised to open

In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, construction of the Lekki Deep Sea Port is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

When it starts operating next year, the facility will increase Nigeria's daily port handling capacity from 3,000 containers to as many as 20,000, significantly easing congestion at the two old ports the nation currently relies on and greatly promoting the nation's international trade.

Muazu Jaji Sambo, Nigeria's transport minister, said the port, contracted to China Harbour Engineering Co, is expected to contribute more than $200 billion to government revenues and create some 16,000 jobs in coming decades.

Lauren Johnston, a senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the port has the potential to help Nigeria optimize the African Continental Free Trade Area, a pact connecting 1.3 billion people across the continent that the World Bank believes can transform the region's economies.

"In addition, the Lekki port is embedded in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. Offering tax and other incentives, as well as reliable and modern infrastructure, the new port will dramatically reduce the cost of shipping and could change the face of importing to and exporting from West Africa's largest economy," Johnston said in a recent commentary.