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Last year, Djibouti’s government formally offered Ethiopia full administrative control of Tadjourah Port, but as of December 2024, Addis Ababa had not responded to the offer.
The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) has unveiled plans for a USD 1.58 billion standard-gauge railway intended to connect northern Ethiopia with the Red Sea ports of Tadjourah, Assab, and Massawa. The infrastructural ambitions were laid out in a 21-page company report presented on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, during the National Railway Business and Investment Summit held at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa.
The document describes the 216 kilometer, single-track Weldiya-Hara Gebeya-Mekelle standard-gauge rail project as ongoing and estimates its total cost at close to USD 1.6 billion. The revelation of a railway directly connecting Tadjourah, Assab, and Massawa comes against a backdrop of Ethiopia’s renewed political drive for sea access.
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Last year, Djibouti’s government formally offered Ethiopia full administrative control of Tadjourah Port, but as of December 2024, Addis Ababa had not responded to the offer.
