A crumbling rail system in Ethiopia reveals failed promise of China’s Billions in African infrastructure (martinplaut.com)

submitted 7 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

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Today it sits as a daily reminder of the broken promises of China-funded infrastructure investments that swept Africa in recent years. Frequent breakdowns, inadequate maintenance funding and operational constraints mean barely one-third of its 41 trains are operational, ferrying 55,000 passengers a day, a fraction of initial projections.

Once bustling and vibrant train stations now exude an air of desolation and neglect, contrasting sharply with the city’s urgent transportation needs for its almost 4 million residents. Inoperable trains are regularly parked at the railway’s garage, awaiting maintenance.

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[-] DdCno1@beehaw.org 27 points 7 months ago

Yeah, no. Your point is whataboutism in order to deflect from an obvious failure. It's the old hypernormalization approach that dictatorships and their defenders love to use. "If everything's bad, then the countless problems of this autocracy can't be that bad, right?"

this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024

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