A Transport Hub of (In-) Convenience

For some reason, Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is the transport hub of intra-Africa flights.  The country’s flag carrying Ethiopian Airlines host flights across the continent, bringing visitors of the continent to the city’s smallish but comfortable airport.  Aside from the usual assortment of foreigners (backpackers on their way to safaris, mid-level managers of commodity firms, sprinkled with a few diplomats), the demographic of the airport’s transit population says much about the state of the continent’s political economy.

The most notable is the sheer inconvenience of this city being the central transport hub of the continent.  Speaking to a veteran expat resident of West Africa (American, manager at a mechanical equipment firm), the author realized the hassle for him to get from Congo to Nigeria, both of which west of Ethiopia.  He mentioned that the only other option, instead of transiting at Addis, is to take a local Nigerian flight, which he cynically deadpanned as “having a decent probability of falling off the sky.”  So his few-hour journey becomes a day-long one, with hours of sitting around at Addis.

Asked why Addis become the transport hub despite such inconvenience, he speaks of the cooperation among the different African leaders.  Ethiopia, having no resources that can become backbone of the economy, was allotted this role by other nations as means of economic survival.  Indeed, the author spotted Africans of many different nationalities, dominated by those of neighboring states like Kenya and Tanzania, but also well-represented in the presence of boisterous Nigerians and other West African peoples.

It does suggest a sense of increasing intra-African connectivity.  In the past, his friends with experiences travelling through Africa have told the author that flying from one state in Africa to another often required transit through Paris or another European hub.  Such was the weakness of intra-African transport.  It seems that not only is there improvements on this aspect, but also the improvement is benefitting large number of African travelers, who are together making intra-African commerce and economic interdependence a greater reality.

The intra-African interconnectivity is only one aspect that is visible in the Addis airport.  It also visualizes other symbols of burgeoning South-South economic integration.  Most notable is the massive presence of Chinese nationals in the airport, on their way to various parts of Africa or back to China.  The airport has set up Chinese information booths, signs, and dedicated duty-free shops to cater to the Chinese demand.  The author’s American lunch-mate, on this point, casually remarked, “well, you should see West Africa, they (the Chinese) are just there to take over, simple as that.”

But if the Chinese lead the pack with investments and commerce (advertisements of Chinese manufacturers and trading firms abound in the airport), others are not far behind.  The Indians and Arabs are well-represented in the people inhabiting this airport, and the sprinkles of other East Asians complete the mosaic.  Without a doubt, they are here to take advantage of whatever economic activities the continent has to offer.  Indeed, the American manager said so well, “the money is so good here that I just keep coming back.”

Yet, at the same time, the non-tourist foreign crowd may not remain this huge and diverse for long.  Many of the foreigners residing and working here do so because there is a distinctive lack of appropriate human capital among the local populace.  Whether it is the Americans who are here to manage firms, or the Chinese who are here as skilled technical workers and small traders, once the Africans can absorb the know-how and combine it with their far superior local knowledge, their usefulness will be greatly diminished.  Many, perhaps, will find their long-played role on this continent disappeared, forced to go home to a less adventurous lifestyle.

So, as professional adventurers the world over decide to descend simultaneously upon the international airport at the Ethiopian highlands, it all comes together as a temporary phenomenon of global economic integration.  Sure, the diversity will not be around for long as people of this continent catch up in skills, but for the time being, the courage and worldliness of people from around the globe are perfectly visible in one single place.  To the professional traveler like the author himself, there is no greater joy, and convenience, than seeing such a sight.