Construction industry is one of the largest sectors in Ethiopia. The sector also occupies a central position in terms of creating massive employment opportunities for citizens and engendering significant impact on the GDP.
Mainly, following Ethiopia’s rapid economic growth and the mega projects undertaken throughout the country, the industry has shown remarkable growth trajectory over the past two decades. All together, the number of professionals joining the industry has increased from time to time.
However, behind this notable growth, several challenges are being witnessed in the sector. Including unjustifiable delays in the completion of the project beyond the planned period, improper planning, mismanagement and the issues of quality among others have been challenging the industry.
Cognizant to this fact, the country is working to identify and curb the sector’s challenges, take timely knowledge based decision and the right proactive measures in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
Recently, a forum aimed at discussing the problems and signifying possible mitigation measures was held in Addis Ababa.
Speaking on the occasion, Wedo Atto, Deputy Commissioner of the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Committee of Ethiopia said that the government is highly committed to promote transparency and accountability as one and major means of fighting mismanagement and corruption.
The Commission has been working with the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative Ethiopia (CoST Ethiopia) to discharge its responsibilities.
Ethiopia has shown commendable progress in fighting corruption in the construction sector though more works are left ahead. Thus, it should have to work harder than ever before because the transgression has become more complex and done in secrecy.
The construction industry is one of the vigorous areas that stimulate economic development. It is also capital intensive sector that absorbs huge budget. In growing countries like Ethiopia where development of infrastructure is one of the prior requirements of economic endeavors, upholding transparency and dealing with challenges has many returns, he added.
As to him, in the first Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) period the construction industry grew at an average of 28.7 percent per annum pushing its share in the GDP to rise from four percent in 2014/15.
Ethiopia Infrastructure Transparency Initiative Country Manager Tesfaye Yalew on his part noted that project delay and late delivery is the major challenge seen in the construction industry.
The problem associated with absence of process transparency in construction projects often leads to poor communication and co-ordination, poor process orientation, ineffective decision making, unsafe working conditions, high levels of waste and variability in the construction process. This lack of transparency stems from deficiencies in the traditional approach to project management, which limits the role of planning and control systems in terms of managing construction.
The Ethiopian Infrastructure Transparency Initiative aspires to see transparency being a norm in all public entities of Ethiopia and the objective of Construction Sector Transparency Initiative – Ethiopia is to improve value for money spent on public infrastructure by increasing transparency in the delivery of construction projects.
Gilbert Senduogwa, Senior Regional Manager for Africa Infrastructure Transparency Initiative, for his part, said that Africa is progressing in managing projects even though there are still issues related to construction projects delay and resource allocation.
Ethiopia has done fundamental move in creating transparency and accountability in the sector. African countries should keep on championing the initiative in bid to make the construction sector more transparent and accountable, he concluded.
The Ethiopian Herald November13, 2019
BY MENGESTEAB TESHOME
