Chemins de Fer Ethiopiens - 1899 dated Ethiopian Stock Certificate
Inv# FS1238 Stock
France
Stock. Paris, France. Rich graphics by Printer-Chaix, Paris. All 48 coupons present. Superb!!
The Chemins de Fer Éthiopiens, originally established as the Compagnie Impériale des Chemins de Fer Éthiopiens, was a historic metre-gauge railway designed to connect landlocked Ethiopia to the Red Sea. Conceived by Emperor Menelik II and his Swiss advisor Alfred Ilg, construction commenced in 1897 in French Somaliland (modern-day Djibouti). The project encountered numerous challenges, including funding difficulties, harsh desert conditions, and complex colonial rivalries between France, Britain, and Italy. Despite these obstacles, the initial phase reached a lower plateau in December 1902, leading to the rapid development and growth of the city of Dire Dawa as a key rail hub. Financial restructuring later resulted in the creation of the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Franco-Éthiopien, which successfully extended the tracks to the capital. The monumental 784-kilometer engineering achievement was completed in 1917, culminating in the iconic French-designed La Gare station in Addis Ababa, which officially opened in 1929.
For several decades, the railway served as Ethiopia’s primary economic lifeline, facilitating international trade and introducing modern mobility to various communities along its route. However, by the late 20th century, a lack of consistent maintenance, political changes, and increasing competition from regional road networks severely deteriorated the old metre-gauge line. Consequently, central sections of the railway were abandoned in the early 2000s. Despite this decline, the historic legacy of the railway is preserved at the Chemin de Fer Railway Museum in Dire Dawa, where vintage diesel engines and decades-old carriages are still displayed in the original workshops. While the line has largely been replaced by a modern, electrified standard-gauge railway completed in 2017, the enduring legacy of the original French-built railway remains. A short, rehabilitated border section continues to operate twice a week, transporting goods and passengers between Dire Dawa and Dewele.
A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.
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