Ethiopia Advances $10 Billion Bishoftu International Airport with Mandated Lead Arranger.

Thursday 14th August 2025

By inAfrika Reporter

Ethiopia has taken a decisive step toward building a new international gateway designed to rank among the world’s largest, with the African Development Bank appointed as initial mandated lead arranger, global coordinator, and book runner to mobilize nearly $8 billion of the project’s $10 billion cost. The Bank also plans to provide $500 million in financing, subject to Board approval, anchoring a structure that will crowd in commercial banks, development finance institutions, and institutional investors behind a flagship for African aviation.

The mandate letter was signed by Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Commercial Officer Lemma Yadecha and the Bank’s President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, in the presence of Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and a delegation of regional dignitaries. Located 40 kilometers south of the capital, the greenfield Bishoftu International Airport is planned with an initial capacity of 60 million passengers, scalable to 110 million, and targeted cargo throughput of 3.73 million tons annually. Groundworks are expected to begin late 2025, with the first phase slated for completion by November 2029.

Adesina praised Ethiopia’s leadership and the national carrier’s role in putting Africa at the top tier of global aviation. He framed the partnership as a natural fit between the continent’s largest airline recognized repeatedly for excellence and central to connecting capitals, people, and markets and its leading infrastructure financier. The Bank’s recent decade includes more than $55 billion committed to infrastructure, alongside a prior $160 million corporate loan in 2016 that supported Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet modernization and expansion. A Letter of Intent signed in March 2025 laid the groundwork for the current financing mandate.

Ethiopian Airlines’ leadership called the mandate a decisive step toward a world-class pan-African gateway that will amplify intra-African trade, regional integration, tourism, and global connectivity. The development will include an airport city featuring shopping, hotels, and recreation, with direct rail and expressway links to Addis Ababa to ensure efficient passenger and cargo flows. The airport will complement Bole International Airport, which will retain domestic operations, while the new hub expands international capacity in line with the airline’s hub-and-spoke strategy across subregional nodes.

The Bank brings a track record of structuring complex transactions as mandated lead arranger, including in energy and rail. Its role encompasses responsibly mobilizing and sequencing capital across public and private sources to deliver bankable deals at scale. In Ethiopia, that experience extends to projects such as the Aysha Wind Power development, while regionally the Bank’s arranging mandates have supported transport companies and cross-border rail initiatives that knit markets more tightly together.

Ethiopian Airlines reported record revenues of $7.6 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2025, an eight percent year-on-year increase, and carried 19.0 million passengers, including 15.1 million on international routes and 3.9 million domestically. As part of the airport program, the company has set aside $350 million for livelihood restoration and resettlement for communities affected by construction. The overall expansion aligns with a continental priority to integrate Africa by breaking down barriers, building cross-border links, and enabling economies to trade, travel, and thrive together. With financing leadership in place and preparatory work advancing, the project is positioned to become a game-changer for regional and global aviation.

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