ETHIOPIAN Railway Corporation has awarded a contract worth around $US 1.2bn to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build the second phase of a 657km standard-gauge electrified line between the capital Addis Ababa and the Djibouti border to replace the existing metre-gauge railway.

THE Ethiopian government has awarded China Eryuan Engineering Group a contract worth around $US 400m to build the city's 37.4km light rail network.

EGYPTIAN National Railways (ENR) reportedly lost £E 70m ($US 11.6m) between January 28 2011 and January 12 2012 in the midst of the uprising to overthrow the regime of former president Mr Hosni Mubarak.

SOUTH Africa's Department of Transport has established a steering committee to oversee the development of the country's four proposed high-speed lines, together with an investor unit which will market the public-private partnership (PPP) projects.