Addis Ababa City Administration Bureau of Mega Projects announced that it has planned to build Special Economic Zones (SEZs), in the metropolis to spur economic growth and enhance market access.
City’s Mega Projects Administrator ShimelisEshetu (Engineer) said that the economic zone will be built around Gotera roundabout covering 34 hectares of land in partnership with the Chinese government. The project is expected to accelerate Addis Ababa’s economic activities and it would be one of the largest in Africa.
Currently, the newly inaugurated Addis Ababa mega projects are changing the livelihoods and immensely contributing in reviving economic activities, tourism and others. Recently, Meskel Square was renovated and inaugurated and it became one of the most standardized open spaces in Ethiopia.
The special economic zone which is going to be built next year will provide different services while integrating various facilities to feature the national culture, center of science and technology, real estate, hotel, market center and others. The total cost of the project is under study and direction is set to complete the construction of the project within a short time, the administrator added.
The bureau undertakes and administers two mega activities in the industrial and corporate sector and each of them undertake different activities. Different projects languished behind schedules last year due to maladministration and other problems and the bureau is planning to recommence those projects using the city’s budget or collaborating with investors and others concerning bodies.
La Gare, the project which is being built by Eagle Hills, which is located in the heart of Addis Ababa, in the historical setting of the La Gare train station is among the projects which was abandoned last year due to problems related to maladministration.
Working with foreign investors the city is planning to boost capital inflow and the city is working with commitment to construct other similar projects in the city by avoiding unnecessary cost. On the other hand the constriction of the projects will ease hardship related to service providing, Shimelis remarked.
The Ethiopian Herald July 2021