Awash-Weldia II, Ethiopia

The Awash-Weldia project consists of the construction of a new 389 km electrified railroad line in Ethiopia by the Ethiopian National Railways (ERC) between the towns of Awash and Weldia. This also includes the construction of approx. 40 km of maintenance lines and approx. 18 km of station lines, tunnels, bridges, stations, maintenance and workshop facilities, depots and the necessary signalling and power supply infrastructure.

The total investment for the line is estimated at around USD 1.7 billion. Yapi Merkezi Insaat Ve Sanayi (Yapi Merkezi), a leading Turkish construction company, was commissioned by ERC with the turnkey construction of the line. More than USD 200 million of the investment costs are allocated to well-known companies from Switzerland and Austria, which are acting as subcontractors for Yapi Merkezi. These Swiss and Austrian supplies and services include the planning and supply of workshops, telecommunication and power supply equipment, the supply of overhead catenary and rail welding equipment as well as the supply of railroad switches and steel bridges.

The new Awash-Weldia railroad project is of great importance for Ethiopia as it connects the northern and eastern economic and transportation corridors of Ethiopia. It is an important link to the Addis Ababa – Djibouti railroad line, which is the main transport corridor for passenger and freight traffic as well as for the transportation of imported and exported goods via the port of Djibouti.

The financing package for the financing of a large part of the supplies and services of various Swiss and Austrian exporters comprises two (Phase I & II) long-term loans amounting to a total of USD 197 million backed by the Swiss Export Risk Insurance SERV. AIL structured and arranged the SERV-covered financing together with the financing bank Credit Suisse on behalf of Molinari Rail AG, which acted as the main exporter to Yapi Merkezi and coordinated and managed all supplies and services of Swiss and Austrian sub-suppliers.