Addis Ababa Station to be moved

[John Ashworth]

Railway Station Hits the Buffers

Fortune, Addis
August 7, 2008
WUDINEH ZENEBE

Addis Abeba's railway station is to be moved and replaced by skyscrapers and a new road.

A recently established state housing corporation, The Housing Development Corporation (HDC), is to undertake the construction of high-rise buildings on a 150,000Sqm plot it was given from the 380,000Sqm property of the century-old Ethio-Djibouti Railway Enterprise.

"The railway station will be relocated to a new site leaving the land for the construction of the skyscrapers," Junedi Sado, minister of Transport and Communications said on September 1, 2008.

A one kilometre long, 40m wide road, designed by the Addis Abeba City Roads Authority (AACRA), is expected to be constructed across the enterprise's property to link the road in Cherkos area with Churchill Avenue.

The new road - which has a 20m central reservation that widens as it approaches the railway station, encircling the main building - could cause the enterprise to lose some of its offices, staff cafeteria and Buffet de la Gare, a restaurant owned by the enterprise, but leased to private operators.

The road will disconnect the main building from incoming and outgoing tracks and will also the cause the enterprise to lose its cargo and passengers terminal.

Because of this, the Transport and Communications Ministry - the supervisory institute of the enterprise - wrote to the city government on April 22, 2008, to request a replacement plot and compensation.

Berhane Deressa, mayor of the former caretaker administration, referred the letter signed by Junedi to the office the city general manager, which formed a committee led by the city's master plan office, to deal with the request.

"We have come up with an idea to provide the enterprise with appropriate compensation and an alternative plot because it is the property of two countries [Ethiopia and Djibouti]," Tefera Hailegebriel, head of Infrastructure and Assets Department of the Enterprise, who is also a member of the committee, told Fortune.

Land around the enterprise's headquarters in the Lagar area, at the heart of Addis Abeba, were identified four years ago in the Addis Abeba City Master Plan as suitable for the construction of high-rises and the development of green areas.

"We have chosen this area for the construction of the high-rises because it has adequate infrastructure facilities - road, water and power supply - already in place and the master plan allows construction of high-rises in the area," a top official at the Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD) told Fortune.

"Constructing many buildings in a single area is convenient for effective management," he added.

Some 15 building design experts and 50 construction experts from China have already landed in Addis Abeba to work on the project, according to the official.

"Their calibre has been confirmed by Ethiopian professionals and the Chinese experts have received orientations on what they are expected to do," the official said.

Subsequently, the 15 Chinese experts have been developing the designs of the skyscrapers to be constructed by HDC and the condominiums to be constructed in the 70 towns by the various regional Housing Development Agencies, a head of a department at MoWUD, who requested to remain anonymous, told Fortune.

Highlighting the attention given to the sector, Prime Minster Melse Zenawi held talks with Chinese Construction Minister, Wang Guangtao, who arrived in Addis Abeba on August 10, 2008 for a four-day visit on the matter.

The Housing Development Corporation was established by the government in January this year with a subscribed capital of four billion Birr in a bid to alleviate the housing problem of middle income urbanites. A study conducted by the MoWUD shows that there is a need for 400,000 additional houses in Addis Abeba alone.

The Federal Government has, in 2006-2007, launched a consolidated housing development project in 70 towns, including Addis Abeba, with a projected cost of 24 billion Br. It is targeting mainly the low and middle income groups. The higher income group is presumed to purchase houses from private real estate developers.

In what is still vibrant industry, the Addis Abeba City Administration has until June 2007 granted license to 408 developers who envisage investing 42.9 billion Br.

The establishment of HDC has blocked the march by the Government House Agency (GHA) towards the real estate business and led to a change of plan according to which the HDC is to sell 80-90pc of the houses it constructs and rent the remaining through GHA.

[John Ashworth]

Pity. I saw it about ten years ago and remember it as quite a grand old station.