Ethiopia: TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Overview: By any measure, Ethiopia’s transportation and telecommunications networks are inadequate. For a country of its size, the transport network is quite limited and needs both upgrades and expansion. The telecommunications system is similarly undeveloped, even by African standards. Service is unreliable and concentrated overwhelmingly in Addis Ababa. A bright spot is Ethiopian Air Lines, which delivers efficient and reliable service domestically and internationally and provides maintenance and training for some other regional carriers.

Roads: Ethiopia has about 24,000 kilometers of roadways, of which only 3,300 kilometers are paved. Almost all primary roads are gravel roads, including those that connect Addis Ababa with major cities and towns across the country. Some 75 percent of government spending on infrastructure is targeted at improving the road network. In 1998 the World Bank approved a US$309 million credit to help fund efforts to improve roads in Ethiopia. In 2003 work began on the second phase of the Road Sector Development Programme, which is scheduled to upgrade 80 percent of paved and 63 percent of unpaved roads by 2007.

Railroads: Ethiopia has only one railroad, the 781-kilometer line that connects Addis Ababa with the port of Djibouti. Ethiopia and Djibouti jointly own and operate the line, which carries up to 800,000 passengers and 250,000 tons of freight per year. Like the road system, it badly needs rehabilitation, plans for which are underway. In order to reduce its reliance on Djibouti, Ethiopia announced in 2001 that it had reached an agreement with Sudan to build a rail link to Port Sudan. At a cost of US$1.5 billion, the project is not likely to be constructed any time soon.

Ports: Ethiopia is landlocked and has no ports.

Inland Waterways: Ethiopia has no significant navigable waterways, although limited ferry service is available on Lake Tana. The Baro and Awash rivers are navigable only in the rainy season. The Abay (Blue Nile) is not navigable within Ethiopia’s borders.

Civil Aviation and Airports: Ethiopia has two international airports in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa and some 40 airfields elsewhere. Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa handles 95 percent of all international air traffic and 85 percent of domestic flights. A major renovation and expansion of Bole was completed in 2002. In 2000–2001, Ethiopian Airlines carried nearly 1 million passengers.

Pipelines: None.

Telecommunications: In 2003 Ethiopia had some 435,000 telephone lines in use. In early 2004, there were more than 122,000 mobile phone subscribers in Ethiopia. In late 2004, the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) signed a contract with Finnish and Israeli firms to build an advanced wireless data and communications network, initially in Addis Ababa and later in the rest of Ethiopia. The ETC hopes to increase cellular capacity to 1 million by the end of 2005. In 2003 it was estimated that Ethiopia had 150,000 personal computers in use and 75,000 Internet users. One broadcast television station operates in Ethiopia, and residents have 367,000 televisions (according to estimates from 2000). In 1997 Ethiopia had 11,750 radio receivers in use and three radio broadcast stations.

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