The Export-Import Bank of India has approved a $300 million worth of line of credit to Ethiopia, paving the way for construction of a railway line linking Ethiopia to a port city in neighbouring Djibouti, The New Indian Express reports.

An agreement in this regard was signed between T.C.A. Ranganathan, chairman and managing director of Exim Bank, and Ahmed Shide Mehamed, Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), in New Delhi Thursday.

“Ethiopia being a landlocked nation, the railway link to a port city will provide impetus to its growth, particularly in the northern region of the country,” the State Minister said.

The railway line is the first part of a larger regional project to improve railway connectivity in Ethiopia and other east African countries, he added.

The loan approval had been under discussion since the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Ethiopia in 2010 under the African Union Region Development Scheme, which was initiated by India.

The proposed railway link will connect the city of Asaita, some 670 km of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, to the port city of Tajourah in neighbouring Djibouti.

Source: The New Indian Express

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