On 20 November 2018, the United Arab Emirates firm Eagle Hills launched an estimated $2 billion integrated community development project in Addis Ababa, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announcing the plan at the opening.
Under the masterplan, the Ethiopian government will hold a 27 percent stake in the project, which is set to include malls, 4,000 apartment houses, three-star hotels and recreation centres. Abiy said the development is expected to take up to seven years to complete.
The premier said the project is designed to absorb about 1,600 households whose current homes are marked for demolition. He said Eagle Hills has provided 1.8 billion birr, about $65 million, to help house those families in the new apartments so they are not displaced from the area where they have lived for years.
“Eagle Hills has given us 1.8 billion birr ($65 million) that will allow us to provide housing for those 1,600 households in the new project without being displaced from where they have been living for long,” Mr Abiy said.
The first phase, which will focus on shopping malls, is expected to be completed in three years. Abiy also said the project should create around 25,000 jobs for Ethiopians and preserve the historical and communal values of the area while giving current residents ownership of some apartment units.
He said that approach was meant to challenge the previous practice of displacement and ensure local dwellers benefit directly from the development.
