A second 230-kV line will lift Djibouti’s import capacity from Ethiopia toward 220 MW – turning surplus hydropower into an export and a neighbour’s reliable supply.
Section
Economics
East Africa’s Dams: Chinese Hydropower Tests the Industrial Promise
China-built dams now anchor East Africa’s grids, yet cheap megawatts alone have not delivered the factories and jobs the projects were sold to underwrite.
Floating the Shortfall: Bui Adds Solar to Steady a River-Bound Grid
Bui’s hydropower output swings with the Black Volta. Ghana’s answer is to float solar on the same reservoir – turning one dam into a planning platform.
Naira Policy: Why Stability Beats Strength for Nigeria’s Planners
A stable naira beats a strong one for Nigeria’s planners — backed by ~US$50.45bn reserves and a 225% rise in portfolio inflows, predictability is what draws
Transport as integration: China’s footprint and the regional-knitting test
Beijing frames its railways and ports as a contribution to African integration. The continent’s own plans, PIDA and Agenda 2063, are the yardstick.
Corridors over showpieces: why the link between projects matters most
A single railway is a ribbon-cutting. A working corridor is an economy. The gap between the two is where most African trade still loses money.
Ports as gateways: where China’s African infrastructure meets the trade test
Beijing’s white paper counts almost 100 ports built across Africa. Whether those quays move African goods, or mostly imports, is the harder question.
TAZARA’s Real Cargo: Copper to the Sea Through Dar es Salaam
Rehabilitating TAZARA is sold as a rail story. Its point is the sea – a mineral corridor delivering Zambian copper to Dar es Salaam, racing US- and Japan-backed routes for the same ore.
Kano-Maradi: A Rail Line Built to Loosen a Landlocked Country’s Knot
The Kano-Maradi railway is sold as regional integration – landlocked Niger reaching Nigerian ports. But its lead builder is Portuguese, its earthworks Chinese, and its bill near US$2bn.