The medal was issued in connection with the construction project for the railway from Addis Ababa to the sea at Djibouti and was struck by the Paris Mint.

The project for the railway began in the mid-1890s and from the outset encountered difficulty raising funds and numerous practical and political obstacles. The original Compagnie Impériale des Chemins de Fer Éthiopiens failed in 1906 by which time the line from Djibouti had reached Dire Dawa. A new enterprise was set up in 1908 and the line finally reached Addis Ababa in 1917.