Ethiopia: Condos worth nearly 1 Billion Br being built Near Summit Factory

Three districts have started mega projects of condominium construction on 188hct of an entirely new development site about 13Km from downtown Addis, near Summit area, in the south east part of the city.

The over 942 million Br worth of condos construction, which started last month, is still in its initial stage on the wide plot stretching from right beside Summit Soft Drinks Factory in Bole District to the south eastern edges of the area closest to the city’s boundary with Oromia Regional State.

Out of the total 15,000 houses planned for the new big condos village, the construction of 8,000 houses is currently ongoing, alongside the land clearance and preparation works for the remaining ones.

The project involves about 250 contractors and 92 micro and small enterprises, according to Tsedale Mamo, general manager of City Housing Development Project Office. The three districts, each owning 5,000 of the condos, are Arada, Kirkos and Kolfe-Keranio.

Summit is the largest condos construction site in the city, followed by Jemmo; the latter hosts 10,000 houses. Upon completion after a year, the 500 blocks new site will be inhabited by 15, 000 households.

Currently, the project office is handling the ongoing construction of more than 28,000 condominium houses. In addition to this, the construction of more than 43,000 condos at a cost of over 2.7 billion Br, including the 15,000 owned by the three districts is on progress. The condos will be erected on 522hct. The construction of these condos will add some 1,432 four-storey blocks to the Addis landscape.

When Ali Abdo was Mayor of Addis Abeba from 1998 to 2002, the third after the ascendance to the power of the EPRDF; there were 350,000 houses in Addis Abeba, according to a strategic document prepared by the city administration. Only 112,000 of these were used for residential purposes by the then 2.3 million residents of the city. The rest were streamlined for commercial business. From the total number of residential structures in the city; close to 65pc are over 23 years old, the document reveals.

Data compiled in 2004 after a housing sector development program study conducted by Central Statistical Agency (CSA) indicates that the housing shortfall stood at 337, 700. A similar study done by the Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD) in 2007 places the number at 400,000.

An estimated 1.5 billion Br was set aside by the Provisional Administration of Mayor Arkebe Oqubay in 2005 towards implementing an initial plan to construct 50,000 condominium houses every year for three consecutive years. The ultimate goal of this plan was to successfully end the overwhelming demand for housing by the lower income group of city dwellers.

Subsequently, the 2005/2006 budget year saw the construction of 9,958 houses at a cost of 306.2 million Br. This was made possible through the support of GTZ, a German Cooperation Agency. That same year, the city housing project office further launched the construction of 30,719 houses. Although the Caretaker Administration of Mayor Brehane Deressa had planned to complete 19,361 condominium houses in the first six months of the 2007/2008 budget year, only 6,776 were successfully finished.

Kuma’s administration has made plans to finalize the previously planned and some already started construction of 73,000 houses, and to construct a further 55,000 during the 2008/2009 budget year. The project office requested 5.5 billion Br from the City Council for the construction, but only 2.5 billion Br was approved.

Of the total 54,000hct size of Addis Abeba, 62pc has been used for various constructions, while the rest are green areas and expansion plots. Addis Abeba has currently consumed more than 75pc of its potential area for development. According to the city development plan for 2001-2010, the potential expansion area of 10,000hct within the administrative boundary could be exhausted by 2010.

Related Posts

1. Ethiopia discovers gold deposits worth US$1.7 billion
2. 1104 condos constructed in Jimma, Ethiopia with More planned
3. Ethiopia – Habesha Cement Factory Plans solidifying
4. Ethiopia – Meles says Africa’s voice heard at G-20 Summit
5. Ethiopia – Meles Zenawi arrives for the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh – nazret.com