It will not only be the largest African airport. With a planned investment of 12.5 billion dollars, four runways, and a final capacity of 110 million passengers per year, the future Bishoftu International Airport is also becoming a testing ground for the competition between the United States and China in the Horn of Africa. But, more than choosing between Washington and Beijing, Ethiopia seems determined to do what it has done for years: use the competition between the great powers to obtain capital, infrastructure, and technology without fully committing to any of them.
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The US is at the forefront. Ethiopian Airlines was founded in 1945 with the assistance of the American Trans World Airlines, and the connection with the American aerospace industry continued for decades through Boeing and GE Aerospace. As recently as last April, the Ethiopian company converted options into orders for six more Boeing 787-9s, bringing the total new Dreamliners to be delivered starting in 2028 to 26.
And this is probably where the United States sees room to re-enter the game. Boeing, GE, and other American companies can compete in the most technologically advanced sectors: aircraft, engines, airport systems, security, traffic management, and digital infrastructure. And Washington also has another lever, the financial one.
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Ethiopian Airlines is expected to cover directly between 20 and 30 percent of the investment, while the rest will have to come from international creditors. The African Development Bank has planned its own intervention of 500 million dollars and has taken on the role of coordinator in raising several billion in financing. In the United States, the International Development Finance Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, and large private financial institutions have expressed interest.
However, the Chinese side is also moving: already at the end of 2025, a bank based in China had promised 500 million dollars, and last March an Ethiopian delegation discussed the project with the Bank of China.
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