Ethiopia joins Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank

World Today

Ethiopia and neighbor Sudan are among about two dozen nations expected to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) this year. And Ethiopia’s leadership has high hopes for what membership will mean for the country’s development.

CGTN’s Girum Chala sat down with the country’s president, Mulatu Teshome in Addis Ababa to discuss.

Ethiopia’s President Mulatu Teshome said that is good news.

“To realize the country’s needs in railway network, highways and do that if Ethiopia becomes member of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank defiantly Ethiopia is going to benefit out of it,” Teshome said.

The next phase of Ethiopia’s national development plan looks to undertake even more massive railway and mega road projects across the nation.

The dream according to the nation’s leadership is to eventually connect Ethiopia with the whole eastern Africa region and beyond. And for that Ethiopia can use all the backing it can get including from AIIB.

“Not only within Ethiopia, we also have to be able to reach our neighbors, first, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan. If we enter South Sudan the sky is the limit. We can go to DRC ,we can go to Central Africa republic…So from the Indian Ocean shortcut go to the Atlantic Ocean by train. That is our dream,” Teshome said.

China established the AIIB a year ago – with 57 member nations and $100 billion in capital. This year, Ethiopia is among some 25 countries from Africa, Europe and the Americas applying to sign on.