Ethio-Djibouti Railway Transported 70,000 tons of Fertilizer

Addis Ababa ENA July 22/2019 Ethio-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDR) under the agreement with Ethiopian Agriculture Works Corporation has transported about 70,000 tons of fertilizer from Port of Djibouti for the main harvest season.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, EDR Planning Manager, Aminu Juhar said the railway has played a significant role in delivering fertilizers needed by farmers on time.

“We do this under the agreement with Ethiopian Agriculture Works Corporation and as fertilizer is considered to be a political commodity and it has to be transported very quickly. To date about 70, 000 tons of fertilizers have been transported from Djibouti,” he explained.

Aminu stated that the fertilizers have been transported in 26 rounds with the capacity of transporting 2,590 tons in a single trip.

Ethio-Djibouti Railway provides different kinds of freight services including the transportation of perishable goods, vehicles, cereals and fertilizers at Indode, Mojo, Adama, and Nagad stations.

“We might have been forced to deploy over 75 trucks in order to transport the same capacity of fertilizers that was transported only by one train, therefore, the railway is playing significant role,” the Planning Manager noted.

A train transports commodities in 11 hours while it takes 3 days for trucks, he pointed out, adding that “train transport is effective both in terms of time and cost.”

According to Aminu, using the railway benefits the nation by reducing its expenditure for high cost commodities like imported petroleum and related items.

“Therefore, it gives more economic advantage for the nation and the agriculture sector by delivering the fertilizers right on time,” he articulated.

The EDR will also have paramount contribution to the export-oriented expansion of industrial parks.

More than 95 percent of Ethiopia’s trade passes through Djibouti and accounts for 70 percent of the activity at the Port of Djibouti.

The electrified Ethio-Djibouti standard gauge railway was inaugurated on January 1, 2018 by the former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn.