China extends $1 billion loan to Ethiopia for the building transmission lines

China yesterday extended a $1 billion loan to Ethiopia for building of transmission lines linking its capital Addis Ababa with Africa's biggest hydropower dam under construction on the Nile.

The country looks to emerge as one of the world's leading power exporters and has investment plans of $12 billion to harness energy from the rivers running off its rugged highlands. It has plans for generation of over 40,000 MW of hydropower over the next two decades.

The centrepiece of the projects in the Horn of Africa country is the $4.1 billion Grand Renaissance Dam in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, which is designed to generate 6,000 MW upon completion.

China has made heavy investments in African infrastructure and its companies often take up work on the building projects it finances.

The 619-km (385-mile) link from the 6,000-MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River would be constructed over the next three years by China Electric Power Equipment and Technology, according to deputy prime minister of economy and finance Debretsion Gebremichael who spoke to reporters in Addis Ababa yesterday.

''The construction of this big transmission line will help benefit our economy and ensure our industrial development,'' Debretsion said.  Funding for the two 500-kilovolt cables would come primarily from the Export-Import Bank of China, he added.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia, had the second-highest hydropower potential in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo, and hoped to complete the self-funded $5-billion Nile dam, which would be the continent's biggest power plant, in 2018.