Capital Ethiopia
Eyasu Zekarias
04 May 2026
Italian industrial and financial giants are poised to enter the race for the Bishoftu International Airport project, but the final trigger lies with Ethiopian authorities, who have yet to issue the official tender. Representatives from Italy’s trade and finance sectors told Capital that the technical and financial groundwork for Italian participation has been largely completed. The only remaining step, they say, is the formal launch of the tender by the Ethiopian Airlines Group (EAG).
The Bishoftu project, valued at around 12.5 billion US dollars, is expected to transform Ethiopia into a major global aviation hub, with components including airport infrastructure, main terminal construction, and integrated logistics zones. Italian lending institutions SACE and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) have reportedly put in place the necessary financial framework to support the project. Claudio Pasqualucci, Trade Promotion Commissioner at the Italian Embassy in Addis Ababa, emphasized that the move from preparation to execution now rests entirely with the Ethiopian government...
