Ethiopia on Saturday started building what the prime minister says will be Africa’s biggest airport when completed in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of the capital Addis Ababa. The massive travel hub is expected to cost around $12.7 billion and eventually be able to handle some 110 million passengers a year at full capacity. Construction is expected to take five years.This multi-airport strategy aims to future-proof Ethiopia’s role as Africa’s leading air transport gateway,” he said in a post on X. He added the project will strengthen Ethiopian Airlines’ global competitiveness, enhance African connectivity, expand trade and tourism corridors and position Ethiopia as a major intercontinental hub.The African Development Bank has earmarked $500 million towards the project and Ethiopian authorities are in talks to raise further tranches with the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the US Development Finance Corporation. Ethiopia hopes to attract foreign tourism despite the ongoing armed conflict in its two most populous regions — Amhara and Oromia — with Bishoftu located in the latter.
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