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The Prime Minister’s Office ordered the Addis Abeba
City Caretaker Administration to prepare plots
suitable for the construction of 50 hotels. The City
Administration, subsequently, screened convenient
plots parcelled from various governmental agencies
of the city.
A letter sent to the City Administration signed by
Berhanu Adelo, head of the Prime Minister’s Office,
stipulated that plots belonging to public agencies
should be identified and taken over so that they
would be used to curb the shortage of hotels in the
city.
Sources at the Addis Abeba Land Development and
Administration Authority (AALDAA) told Fortune
that, in accordance with the letter, engineers of
the Authority have identified the 50 plots,
including a vast holding of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) in
Kazanchis, Quality and Standards Authority of
Ethiopia (QSAE) in Gerji and an extensive plot on
which rests the warehouse, of the Agricultural Grain
Enterprise located in Mexico.
An investor would be given a 3,000sqm to 5,000sqm
plot as long as he has the capacity to erect a
three-star hotel and above, sources disclosed.
The metropolis currently has fewer than 5,000 rooms
in its various hotels that are up to the required
standards whereas the figure should stand at 10,000,
according to a study by the Ministry of Works and
Urban Development (MoWUD). Though there are around
200 hotels in the city, less than half meet the
three-star standard.
Arkebe Oqubay, state minister of MoWUD, told
Fortune that the government sees developing
state holdings as a viable strategy to alleviate the
shortage.
“As hotel construction requires suitable sites,
government agencies that command extensive plots of
land in prime locations should parcel part of their
holdings,” Arkebe added. “Interested investors
should insure they launch construction instantly.”
The hotel expansion project will be undertaken in
two phases; 15 to 20 hotels in the first phase and
the balance in the second. The first phase of the
constructions will not require evictions and
compensation payments, as it will be held on plots
secured from state agencies.
A source at the Land Development Authority told
Fortune that the suitable sites would not only
be garnered from state agencies; residences
considered to be proper sites for hotel structures
would also be labelled to be included in the
project. However, the clearing of these sites will
take place in the second phase of the project.
Having been identified, the plots will be parcelled
out while the Authority expects many investors to
visit for the Millennium. Nonetheless, the basis on
which the plots would be transferred to investors,
whether through negotiation or bid, has not been
decided.
The Authority will decide the basis in which the
sites will be handed over to investors next month if
the Prime Minister’s Office approved the selected
sites presented to it.
“When some 3,000 guests come to the city to attend
international conferences, it can vividly be seen
that the metropolis has an indisputable shortage of
hotels,” a tour operation expert told Fortune.
“The government has set out with a fundamental
project as there are cases where we do not find
hospitality for our guests.”
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