ADDIS ABABA–The Addis Ababa City Administration Landholding Registration and Information Agency is expanding a modern address system to standardize street names and house numbers, enhancing location accessibility for residents, businesses, and visitors.
The Agency has launched the project to help communities easily identify households, roads, and key infrastructure. The initiative aims to bring efficiency to urban mobility, improve emergency response times, and facilitate better service delivery.
Speaking to the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Temesgen Haile Yohannes, Director of Address System Expansion and Management at the Agency, stated that the project has already installed 133 address plaques and is set to cover all legally recognized buildings and 30,000 roads within two years.
He acknowledged that Ethiopia lags behind many countries in implementing a modern address system but emphasized that the effort aligns with the city’s broader urban development and corridor development plans.
The 180 million Birr project integrates address plaques with existing infrastructure such as electricity poles, streetlights, and bridges, helping to reduce costs while ensuring widespread coverage. Additionally, the system will link electricity bills to digital addresses, enabling accurate location identification for service providers and local authorities.
Community participation is encouraged in the project, although households are not required to contribute financially to the initial installation. However, homeowners will bear the costs of replacing damaged plaques, Temesgen noted.
A key feature of the new system is the creation of a digital database, developed in collaboration with the Ethiopian Space Science and Geospatial Institute. This database will be accessible via websites, mobile applications, and GPS services, making it easier for individuals and businesses to navigate the city. Data collection for the digital transition is already underway, the director remarked.
BY BETELHEM BEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 2 FEBRUARY 2025
