ABSTRACT

The Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway along with its industrial clusters was designed to catalyse development and enhance Ethiopia’s global economic competitiveness. This chapter navigates different scales of issues. While the railway serves as much needed infrastructure and will likely aid in macro-economic factors, less attention was afforded to meso- and micro-scale issues – such as community consultation, benefit dispersal, regional governance negotiations and general ownership – as well as how transit-orientated development (TOD) and industrial facilities will coalesce. There are concerns that it may exacerbate Ethiopia’s trade imbalance with China, but overall it was a relatively successful project.