The Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), the state owned press publisher, moved last week from the Ministry of Information (MoI) building, where it had been located for the past five years, to the new LEX Plaza building, on Haile GebreSelassie Avenue.

Sources from LEX Plaza told Fortune that the Agency will have offices on the sixth, seventh and eighth floor of the building with a darkroom, restaurant and storage room located in the basement. The EPA will be leasing the 2,174sqm of space for 186.25 Br per square meter. Sources said that the EPA signed a five-year contract.

LEX Plaza was built by Alemayehu KifleMariam for approximately 40 million Br. Construction, which started in January 2004, has concluded and the building was opened for rent last month.

The Minister of Information, Birhan Hailu, said that due to lack of space at the MoI building, the EPA had asked the government to allocate a budget to construct its own location.

Frustrated in its request, the EPA then requested a rent budget so that it could move out of the building nonetheless. The budget was allocated and EPA issued a tender for office space. LEX Plaza won the tender.

The Photography Department as well as the weekly magazine Zemen have already settled into their new location. The rest of the operations will move as soon as telephone lines have been installed, expected to take place by the end of next week.

EPA publications Al-Alem, an Arabic newspaper and Beressa, an Oromiffa publication, were located in Arat Kilo in front of Birhan Ina Selam Building until it was decided that they too should be moved to the new LEX Plaza, said sources.

One of the editors from the Ethiopian Herald told Fortune that the move would make it easier for journalists to acquire information, putting all the journalists from the various locations under one roof.  Under the old arrangement, employees from Arat Kilo spent a lot of time commuting to the MoI offices.

In fact, according to the editor, the move will provide a better flow of information amongst the different newspapers and magazines generally.

EPA was founded in 1941; it covers its own expenses and its regular budget every year and generates eight to nine million Birr income for the government.

It moved into the MoI building in 1996, joining the Ministry offices and the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency.