Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. It is also an important strategic partner of China in Africa and an important participant in the China-Africa joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Ethiopian Riverbank Green Development Project is China's first foreign-aided park project, and it is undertaken by First Public Works Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as CCCC First Public Works Group), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd. During the 11-month construction process, the China Communications First Public Security Bureau Group overcame many unfavorable factors such as difficulties in material allocation, pressure on epidemic prevention and control, and climatic conditions, and completed the urban comprehensive square with the most functions and the largest area in Africa - Xie Ge The construction of the Friendship Square in Er Park brought a new landmark to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and won wide praise from the Ethiopian government and people.

Coordination of local ecology and economic development

At the foot of the Prime Minister’s Office in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the former river bank was once regarded as a natural garbage dump by the locals due to neglect of river management, weeds on the surface, and accumulation of domestic and industrial waste. However, in just 11 months, this wasteland that used to be full of sewage has transformed into the most functional and largest urban comprehensive square in Africa - Segel Park Friendship Square. This large-scale comprehensive square includes celebration square, flying flower belt, artificial lake, art garden, palm gallery, music fountain, cultural relief and many other landscapes, integrating celebration, exhibition, science and education, leisure, entertainment and other functions into one. The new landmark of the capital of Ethiopia has also become a beautiful new business card for Ethiopia.

Behind the new look of this miraculous wasteland is the careful design, careful planning and construction of the CCCC No. 1 Public Security Bureau Group, which lasted nearly a year. Faced with a construction aid project with a tight schedule, heavy tasks, and great political significance, CCCC No. 1 Public Works Group, which has rich experience in service and operation in Ethiopia, raised the project to the top priority of the company. The chairman of the group personally took command and integrated more than 20 The resources of each project department will be supported, and key employees with rich overseas working experience will be selected to go to the front of Ethiopia.

The riverside green development project not only attracts many domestic and foreign tourists, but also attracts many investors to pay attention to Ethiopian cultural tourism, which drives the development of surrounding service economy and Ethiopian economy. During the construction period, the river bank green development project directly promoted the employment of nearly 2,500 local employees, and indirectly promoted the development of Ethiopian local companies such as seedling companies and stone companies in the industrial chain. At present, the park has officially started operation, with an average daily reception of nearly 500 tourists. The park provides positions such as park management, catering, greening, wedding photography, etc., and has solved the employment problem of nearly 400 people.

The riverside green development project not only brought economic benefits such as increased tourism revenue and solved employment problems to Ethiopia, but also solved the environmental pollution and ecological degradation problems that had plagued the local area for many years through the construction of the project. Ethiopian officials said during the visit that the river bank green development project is a model project for Ethiopia to fully develop the tourism industry. Inspired by the riverside green development project, the Ethiopian government plans to build three similar parks in Oromia, Amhara and Southern states. As a model project, the river bank green development project is carrying the concept of green symbiosis between man and nature, leading the construction and development of Ethiopia towards a more harmonious, more beautiful and greener future.

Shaping a new look of local ecology

Addis Ababa is located on a plateau at an altitude of 2,400 meters. After quantitative research on the geographical conditions of Addis Ababa, it is found that the city's ability to withstand climate change is relatively weak, and its ecological environment is relatively fragile. Rising local temperatures and natural disasters such as drought and flash floods are also depleting the city's natural resources and weakening the city's productivity. The river bank green development project involves more than 20 types of projects, and it is extremely difficult to reduce the impact of breaking ground on the local primitive ecology. Even so, the Riverbank Green Development Project achieved green construction that reduced energy consumption and waste within an 11-month construction period, not only did not cause more serious ecological burdens to the local area, but even improved the local ecological environment. Among them, strong scientific and technological support is the magic weapon for the project.

Water pollution from dilapidated rivers has always been one of the problems plaguing the people of Addis Ababa. In order to completely solve the sewage problem and realize the sustainable and clean utilization of river water resources, the CCCC No. 1 Public Works Group has fully considered the local actual situation and innovatively introduced many new materials and new processes. This is the first time in Ethiopia and even the entire East Africa. The company undertook the treatment of 1.2 kilometers of river, and built a new one-stop sewage treatment plant with a semi-underground structure. Compared with the traditional sewage treatment plant in Ethiopia, it occupies a smaller area and has higher practical value, achieving high quality, high efficiency, clean and green sustainable pollution control.

In addition, the riverside green development project has given new homes to wildlife. Addis Ababa is the habitat of many wild animals. However, Ethiopia's eight-month-long dry season every year has brought great challenges to the survival of wild animals. For this reason, the river bank green development project designed an artificial lake at the beginning of planning to bring moist water vapor to the surrounding area to relieve dryness, and introduced waterproof and breathable new materials during the construction process, which greatly improved the service life of the artificial lake and ensured The normal circulation of the micro-ecosystem in the lake is guaranteed. Now, even in the long and dry dry season, wild animals have a safe resting place, and nearly a hundred species of birds currently live here.

Green Consensus Gathers the Power of China and Egypt

The riverside green development project has always adhered to the design concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. At the beginning of the design, the local natural conditions in Ethiopia were fully considered, and a garden of 150,800 square meters was planned to create a natural outdoor oxygen bar. There are more than 80 kinds of plants in the garden, including more than one million flowers and green plants, more than 40 kinds of local rare tree species such as Araucaria fir, and 5,600 trees. During the construction period, due to the lack of professional greening seedling companies in Ethiopia, how to solve the source of green plants within the limited construction period has become a thorny problem faced by the project.

The river bank green development project gathers all the projects under construction in Ethiopia to search for tree sources. The project department found a professor of landscaping at a local university, and provided professional training to 150 recruited people, who were grouped to look for trees. The project department finally found most of the urgently needed trees within one month, but the 76 araucaria trees needed for the plan have not been found.

When the search for trees was at a bottleneck, one day, a local old man approached Xin Bin, the deputy manager of the project in charge of greening, and said, "I saw that the square you built was removing trees. There is an araucaria in my yard. I want to give it to You guys, move it now, I can plant a smaller one." Xin Bin led the staff to the old man's home, and found that it was a 12-meter-tall araucaria, and the market price was about 20,000 yuan. All the staff of the project are extremely grateful for the generosity of this old man. Subsequently, with the strong support of the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia, the project finally completed the smooth procurement and transplanting of all araucaria. In order to continuously consolidate the local greening achievements, the project has specially built greenhouses, hired domestic landscaping experts, introduced Chinese greenhouse cultivation technology to Ethiopia, and left sustainable green hope for Ethiopia, which has been widely praised by the local government and people .

The complete success of the river bank green development project is inseparable from the support of various forces from government officials to non-government parties in China and Egypt. It is the value concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature and the concept of green, clean and sustainable development deeply embedded in the river bank green development project that makes the forces of the two countries closely unite. China and Egypt are united by the concept of green symbiosis, and Chinese companies and local people are united by the practice of sustainable development.

Sow hope for sustainable development

Messi, general manager of Addis Company of China Communications First Public Bureau Group, is an old employee of the company for more than ten years. Whenever someone asks the former famous Ethiopian model whether she regrets giving up her modeling job, she always expresses that she is very happy to be able to Contributing to the country together with CCCC, if she had to choose again, she would still choose CCCC. Because, CCCC No. 1 Public Works Group and the river bank green development project not only left a green and beautiful comprehensive square in Ethiopia, but also brought the green and low-carbon construction concept and professional technology to the local area, creating a harmonious coexistence between man and nature. The concept of green development is deeply rooted in Ethiopia.

In terms of construction standards, CCCC No. 1 Public Security Bureau Group has established a green manual ("Safety Production, Quality Supervision, Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Supervision Standard Framework and Guidelines") and a second report (Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Monitoring Statistical Report and Information Submission System) The management standard system strictly requires employees to carry out green construction operations in accordance with regulations.

During the construction process, the company attaches great importance to the standardized management of the construction site, establishes a standardized template for the construction site, requires the construction personnel to plan the temporary land use before the official start of the project, and encourages the borrowing and abandonment of existing sites such as wasteland, which has been achieved in actual construction. Low carbon and low consumption.

In terms of personnel training, the company has fully considered the technical ability of local employees and equipped a mature training mechanism for the river bank green development project. With more and more local employees possessing mature professional skills, CCCC No. 1 Public Works Group has won the reputation of "Addis Ababa Technical School" in the local area.

Ethiopia is recognized as the "hometown of long-distance running" in the world. In addition to construction, the company fully considered the long-distance running hobbies of local people and employees, and created the Ethiopian Ring Relay with the theme of "health and green". The event has been held in the local area for 15 consecutive years. It is popular among local people from all walks of life because it is not limited to industries, ages and nationalities. In addition to the joyful, healthy and low-carbon competition, participants from various countries and all walks of life fully integrated, and naturally built a harmonious community together, strengthening the friendship bridge between China and Egypt.Editor/Ma Xue