BY HIZKEL HAILU –
Capital cities are crucial parts of all countries over the world. Governments ordinarily invest in improving their respective countries entirely but the capitals see more infrastructure investments in which private developers play irreplaceable role. They also play a pivotal role in booming the national economy.
Since the past three years, Ethiopia has been undertaking different reform activities across the nation. Particularly, the Nobelist Prime Minister Abiy Ahimed (PhD) jointly with the Addis Ababa City Administration cabinets has commenced different new projects, carried out their construction swiftly, inaugurated and made them operational. These projects are actually fitted out with high quality and basic social and economic significances.
Economic reform that incorporates the private sector is expected to help the nation’s economy grow faster. Ethiopia’s new prime minister has promised to jumpstart serious economic reforms. The pursuit of sound, private sector-led and export-oriented economic policies are critical to achieving Ethiopia’s economic and social ambition.
The Ethiopia’s reformist Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed is championing a new face for the booming city that fits its ever growing population.
Situated in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, the second most populous country in the continent following Nigeria, with over 110 million people, has seen registering significant economic improvement in recent years aiming to fit the demand of its population that grow rapidly.
Infrastructure development and housing projects are covering the landscapes of modern Ethiopia unprecedentedly. The rise of the country’s economic standard has gone beyond the expectation of previously analyzed data, surveys, and opinions of many investors worldwide, Mekonen Abera, an Economist said.
As part of the rapid economic growth and the current progress in the country, the agro processing sector like dairy products, manufacturing sector, and construction among others have turned the country’s financial needs into massive opportunities for local and foreign businesses – especially those from the European nations.
Numerous projects have turned eye towards Ethiopia’s economy, particularly in the city of Addis Ababa. Currently thus, the country has become the heart of Africa’s economic evolution due to high demand especially in the construction sub-sector. The wave of construction in Addis Ababa has spilled into other Ethiopian cities, initiating investors to take serious measures in expanding their and economy too,” Mekonnen avowed.
These multi-purpose parks and other projects contain indoor and outdoor facilities built mostly with local materials, including centers for physical activities, a library, restaurants and coffee shops, parking, religious and national celebration places, fountains, walkways and bicycle, scooter lanes, and different services.
According to some documents from the Office of Addis Ababa City Administration, Sheger Bakery is a reform project launched to ease the livelihood of the people of Addis Ababa, particularly the low income community through providing bread at an affordable price. Likewise, the bread shops sell also fruits and vegetables at the established shops with reasonable price.
Sheger Bread Factory, the largest bakery and flour factory in Africa with a potential of baking two million loaves of bread every day in three shifts, was inaugurated last August by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. During the inauguration, the Premier called the project ‘symbolic’ to Ethiopia’s path to prosperity. The factory and its distribution network in Addis Ababa have created thousands of jobs.
On his publication for The Conversation.com, Jabulani Sikhakhane also stated that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has initiated several urban megaprojects since coming to power in 2018. These include Legehar, a 36-hectare real estate project, and a 56km riverside renewal scheme dubbed Beautifying Sheger.
Both projects are intended to give Africa’s political capital a facelift, and generate revenue through higher land values and urban tourism. They are the latest additions to a skyline that have undergone dramatic changes in the past 20 years, he asserted.
Abiy Ahmed’s focus on luxury real estate projects and urban tourism schemes represents a clear ideological break from the past. The plans are reminiscent of the grand structures put up in Gulf emirates such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They promise flashy skyscrapers and hyper-modernity.
Legehar and Beautifying Sheger projects represent a new era of urban development in Ethiopia and raise fundamental questions about spatial justice. These projects cater to a growing urban elite that includes international tourists and the country’s vast diaspora in the US and Europe. Such elite enclaves lie in stark contrast to the pro-poor focus of the previous administration.
Pointing out that these new megaprojects are intended to generate revenue through increased urban land values, he underlined that the city’s economy will be increased instantly if the government could continue in constructing such projects in the future with the same pace.
Fitihawek Metaferia, Urban Research and Capacity Building Directorate Team Leader at Addis Ababa Plan and Development Commission for his part stated that the city is undertaking different reform activities to boom its economy. As to him, his office stands at the forefront as a core institution to lead and realize comprehensive development plans through forecasting the city as ‘Africa’s Prosperity Hub’.
As capital cities and metropolitans areas are widely considered as growth centers and focus areas for economic, social, environmental, political and technological concerns – both from international and national perspectives, the performance of different projects over the past three years indicate how the new administration is eager to boom the city as well as the national economy.
The city has been putting a due emphasis to promote its development to the desirable state. A lot of prioritized socio-economic, environmental, infrastructural development and good governance activities have been designed and or implemented to achieve the goals or targets set by considering global, regional and national development agenda, he noted.
While mentioning that Addis Ababa is boosting in its economic growth with an ambitious development strategy, he pledged the metropolitan to work as hand in glove with the government.
The Ethiopian Herald June 22/2021
