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The World Bank is to move to new headquarters, in
Wessen Aweke Building, leaving its current head
office, found in Worbek Building, off Africa Avenue
(Bole Road). The Bank considered getting out of the
seven-storey structure, Worbek, which belongs to a
prominent coffee exporter, Workeshet Bekele, due to
the security concerns posed because the building is
situated along the road.
Moreover, the building cannot accommodate the Bank’s
Staff, consultants, and the small IMF team who share
the same building, sources disclosed.
The Bank had agreed with Workeshet to rent the
building for ten years. Nonetheless, after having
used it for just over five years, the bank made a
decision to move to a better structure, therefore
terminating its agreement.
The Bank has a policy of issuing public tender in
Washington for buildings to rent in any country, and
does not agree to rent a building for more than five
years at a time. This was not put into practice when
the Bank rented the Worbek building, which was
constructed close to 10 years ago, next to the main
road. Its proximity to the road also violates the
Bank’s security standard.
The Bank is not moving someplace far though. Its
current office is only a few metres away from the
new one, next to Bole Tower in the same vicinity.
The owner of this building is Wessen Aweke, the
renowned architect, who is carrying out the
construction of the building with his own team of
engineers.
Wessen secured the plot from the Addis Abeba City
Administration Land Development and Administration
Authority in 2006, after bidding in a tender floated
by the latter. Its offer was 2,071 Br per square
meter for the 933sqm plot.
He has now agreed to rent the eight-storey building,
which has a compound, to the bank for ten years,
like his predecessor. The bank would install
security facilities in its new command center,
sources disclosed.
Wessen closely works with Sunshine Construction
Plc., a Grade One construction company with a
remarkable success story in the country. The
architect is designing a 23-storey building which
will be the jointly owned headquarters of Bank of
Abyssinia and Nile Insurance, at a cost 135 million
Br.
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