Authority Eager to Reclaim Land Doled Out to Investors

December 8, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) – Would-be investors, forty in number, are to lose land they had been given by the Addis Abeba Administration, a source disclosed to Fortune.

This was following a study conducted by the City Investment Agency concerning land given four years ago. The study will be presented to the Land Administration and Construction Permit Authority after the general manager of the agency signs it.

However, Fitsum Arega, had been removed from his position as head of the Trade and Industry Bureau and appointed as the agency's general manager a week ago. He has, as yet, not takenover his post and has not been answering his phone. His predecessor, Ketema Zewde, has been sent on forced leave; he too, is not answering his phone.

The lands in question are located in the two industrial zones, Akaki Kaliti and Mekanissa areas, established by the Provisional Administration of Arkebe Okubay. The two zones have a total area of 687,000sqm, where 324 investors have been given plots for investments in agro processing, construction materials, paper and paper products, textiles and plastics.

A source, told Fortune that 20 of these investors had violated their agreements by constructing warehouses for rent on the plots given to them and 20 more had not yet started any kind of development. Only 100 investors are said to have started operations, while the rest are still on the construction phase, although they have been two years overdue, according to the source.

Once the study has been approved by the signature of the manager, the authority will pass it on to the lease board for a final decision, according to the plan of the administration for 2009/10, which includes identifying all investors who are defaulting on their agreements and snatching their land.

The city administration has plans to give 300ht of land for 2009/10, but six months into the budget year, no land has yet been given. Officials say 32ht could be given out at any time now.

Some of the land that will be leased will include those plots that will be taken from inactive investors or those that have diverted the land for other uses not mentioned in their agreements. The administration wants to lease land through tender, but its own experts question the wisdom of that, as two investors with incompatible investments could win adjacent lands.

The city's master plan had designated five areas for industrial zones, including Kilinto, Jamo Repi and Akaki Kaliti. However, the Caretaker Administration of Brehane Deressa used the Jamo Repi site for condominiums.