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>Where is a country like Ethiopia getting all the money for such a mega-project?

The cost is $4.2 billion according to the article, and Ethiopia's GDP is $272 billion. It's not a mystery to see the project get financing, though I imagine the risk of war warped the deal somewhat.

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Well that just makes me even more curious. How does a nation of 110 million, 70% of whom don’t even have access to electricity, have a GDP of $272 billion? $2700 GDP per capita would put Ethiopia in the ranks of the middle-income countries.

I accidentally read the PPP GDP from Wikipedia, the nominal is $93 billion. Bottom 30 for GDP per capita. The point still stands though.

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