The construction industry

There is no wonder that Ethiopia has been praised and has become the World Bank’s Prize recipient for its outstanding road construction scheme; this is a source of national pride. I do not doubt in my mind that every Ethiopian would agree positively on the massive construction projects of all kinds that this nation has undertaken in all corners of the country in the last few years, unparalleled with similar previous undertakings.
Private housing, factories and industries, roads and bridges, hospitals, government and business institutions, schools and universities, real estate developments, malls and apartment buildings, around all these, massive construction works have been involved.
The construction projects seem to be truly in line with the country’s strategic choices. When I come to think in terms of infrastructural prerequisites, I simply doubt if we have to stop in the middle of it all for sometime, and begin to think how to apportion existing infrastructural prerequisites or to develop new ones in the course of the process and proceed to think on their realizations. The urgency of digging the perceived water wells in Addis Ababa provides a good example. One could think of electricity supplies and other facilities in the same way.
The second item of my worry is the absorbtion capacity of some of these constructions. For instance, what will be the capacity of the 200 or so 20 to 30 storey buildings in view that are planned to be constructed? Will there be sufficient middle class people to occupy such residential buildings, if they are to materialize in the short or middle term?
I think these sort of arguments should be pertinent in the planning stage based on present capacity situations. There is presently shortage of water here and there; the electricity distribution gets hampered from time to time on scarcity of water as well as some other considerations; etc.
Likewise, as there are many low income residents in Addis Ababa there are only a few real middle class people along side. I thus observe that random sampling of occupant capacities be taken in all sectors of the economy well in advance before allowing further expansion of expensive dwelling constructions.
It is true that some construction take place in some corners of the city without first seriously considering their rentability. There are some buildings that rent well upto the second or third floors, whereas the floors above that attract hardly any occupants. It is vital to make a real market assessment based on feasibility studies before deciding on their constructions.
As most of the current constructions are financed through bank loans, there should be an assured margin on the returns of investments so as to be able to pay back safely on loans.
The other important aspect of the construction business reflects on governmental decisions. There should be a long-range assurance that there would be sufficient lighting system that would light up such high-rising buildings all the time, and that there would be uninterrupted water supply that would mount the 20 and 30 floor of buildings. Similarly, there should be sufficient provisions for other facilities, too, to ensure the proper realization of such constructions.
If the construction industry is viewed and revised in light of this, it would be a promising business.