ADDIS ABABA, Ethi­o­pia — The sleek, white train glides through the hilly Ethiopian countryside, the first to travel this route in nearly a decade. The contrast is stark as the new, Chinese ...

When Western powers see a city like Addis Ababa awash with Chinese influence, there is the knee-jerk reaction that “China has an ulterior motive,” says Benebdallah.

Work on the Addis Ababa and Massawa railway, as it is known, is already underway. Some 736km (457 miles) will be laid to link Addis Ababa and Massawa, a port city in neighbouring Eritrea.