ADDIS ABABA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) said Saturday that it had finalized preparatory works to build five dry ports, a move to leverage country's logistic flow.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country entirely dependent on its neighboring countries' sea ports for its logistic activities, has previously established the Dry Port Service Enterprise (DPSE) for the development of dry ports to ease logistic challenges.
Construction of three dry ports, out of the five to be constructed, has been already commenced in three different parts of the country, while the remaining 2 would follow soon, according to Desalegn Gebrehiwot, Deputy CEO of ESLSE.
Once operational, the planned five dry ports to be built in five major cities of the east African country are expected to ease challenges related to the logistic flow in all four corners of the country, local news media FBC quoted ESLSE saying.
According to figures from the ESLSE, 80 percent of Ethiopia's logistic flow utilizes the Modjo dry port platform, which the Ethiopian government lauded in many occasions as a relieving spot for the congested Djibouti port.
The total cost of the five dry ports is estimated to exceed 1.5 billion Ethiopian birr (65.2 million U.S. dollars).
Unlike the already existing Modjo dry port, which only serves incoming goods, the planned spots are said to serve both import and export routes so as to boost the country's export sector.
