Ethiopia energizes itself with Chinese help

In the green highlands on the outskirts of Ethiopia's second-largest city, Adam, more than 100 three-blade wind turbines can be seen. When the two-phase wind farm goes into full operation soon, it will become this country's largest wind generating project.

Local people are still planting crops and raising cows and horses beneath the turbines that carry the names of two Chinese companies - CGCOC and Hydro China - along with that of the Ethiopian Energy Authority.

A senior manager of CGCOC, which has focused on infrastructure projects in Africa for years, said the company is still negotiating with Ethiopia to build a wind power base and transfer China's long chain of know-how in capturing this renewable energy to the East African country, which has rich wind resources especially in the Rift Valley region.

On my flight from Beijing to Addis Ababa one week ago, a graceful Ethiopian crew member, seeing me sitting together with rows of Chinese workers, asked me if I was flying to Africa for road construction.

I could not explain at that moment what Chinese workers and investors are doing in Africa is more than just the construction of roads and railways.

During the past week in Ethiopia, I have seen for myself that as well as constructing roads and railways Chinese companies are helping build hydro-power plants, drill wells, plant vegetables, set up cement production lines, and build hospitals, and they plan to help construct a sugar plant. The list of such endeavors goes on.

In this East African country, whose per capita income is the same as that of China in the 1980s, thousands of Ethiopian workers and families are working together with Chinese to finish these projects, which are mainly owned by the Ethiopian government.