News Addis Ababa Still Carrying 30bln Birr Housing Debt, Mayor Says
May 16, 2026
Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abiebie says the city is still burdened by nearly 30 billion Birr in outstanding housing-related debt, a liability city officials say continues to constrain efforts to finance new condominium projects through bank loans.
Addressing the City Council this week, the mayor said her administration inherited more than 60 billion Birr in liabilities linked to condominium housing projects, describing the debt as one of the central obstacles facing the city’s long-running housing program.
“We inherited more than 60 billion Birr in debt,” Adanech told council members, adding that the administration has already repaid around 60 billion Birr over time, despite accumulating interest charges.
“Even now, including the debts generated over time, we still have close to 30 billion Birr in debt,” she said. “We are making efforts to finish paying it.”
The mayor linked the debt burden directly to the city’s inability to secure fresh financing from commercial banks for new housing construction projects.
“As long as the debt related to condominium housing construction was not settled, we could not obtain bank loans,” she said.
According to Adanech, the city used the limited financing it managed to secure during the current administration primarily to complete stalled condominium projects inherited from previous years rather than launching large-scale new developments.
“We can no longer build houses the way we used to by continuously taking bank loans,” Mayor Adanech told council members. “The small amount of money we managed to obtain through our own efforts during this reform period was used to complete the condominium houses that were already under construction.”
She said newly launched housing projects are now being financed directly from government treasury allocations and the city administration’s own revenues rather than external borrowing
The mayor also disclosed that the administration has been negotiating with the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which owns the majority of the city’s housing debt, to create payment mechanisms that would allow condominium savers to afford units built through government financing.
“We have held discussions with commercial banks and reached an understanding on procedures that will enable savers to pay for houses constructed with government funds or budget support,” she said.
The mayor’s remarks come amid intensifying public frustration over housing shortages in the capital, where millions remain registered and waiting under a public housing scheme while demand continues to grow because of urban migration, population growth, and rising numbers of young residents seeking independent housing.
“There has not been a single council session in the past five years where the housing question was not raised,” Adanech said.
She acknowledged that demand in the city far exceeds supply and warned the issue would continue to dominate public discourse for years to come.
“The demand is vast,” she said. “The supply cannot meet the demand all at once.”
The mayor said around 270,000 condominium units had originally been planned to serve millions of registered residents waiting for homes, but growing urban demand has continuously widened the gap between need and available supply.
According to the administration, Addis Ababa has adopted a multi-pronged housing strategy designed to increase overall supply through state-led construction, public-private partnerships, individual homebuilding, real estate development, and cooperative housing arrangements.
Adanech told council members that over the past five years the city has managed to increase overall housing supply by approximately 480,000 units, including projects undertaken with private sector participation.
Of those, around 139,000 were condominium units delivered to registered savers, including projects that had stalled for years before being resumed under the current administration.
The mayor said approximately 106,000 condominium units were transferred through two rounds of lotteries conducted since 2019.
The administration has also expanded urban renewal projects targeting dilapidated kebele housing areas lacking basic sanitation and sewer infrastructure.
Initially launched as rehabilitation projects, officials later shifted toward replacing deteriorated settlements with apartment buildings after concluding that renovation alone was inefficient from a land-use perspective.
Through that approach, the city says it has constructed around 46,000 housing units.
The mayor said some of the units were allocated to residents displaced by redevelopment projects, while others were reserved for vulnerable groups, including elderly citizens and people facing severe social hardship.
Other housing developments have been designated as rental units aimed at expanding the city’s stock of affordable rental housing.
Despite the debt crisis, the city says it has resumed large-scale construction through treasury-funded projects and public-private partnerships.
Adanech said around 50,000 housing units are currently under construction directly through government budget financing, while another 55,000 units are in the pipeline through agreements with private developers.
“In total, around 105,000 houses have now been started,” she said.
The mayor added that priority in future allocations would continue to go to registered condominium savers, though she acknowledged that units can no longer be delivered at the prices people paid 15 or 20 years ago.
“It is impossible to provide these houses at the saving rates of 15 or 20 years ago,” she said. “But it has been designed in a way that people can still afford to pay.”
According to Adanech, the city administration has reached understandings with commercial banks on financing mechanisms that could enable buyers to pay for treasury-funded housing units over time.
She identified several major housing sites currently under development, including projects in Akaki Worqu Sefer, Akaki Gelan Gura, Tulu Dimtu, Gerji, Seba Dereja, Dejach Wube, and Qecheltira.
Beyond government-led projects, the administration is also expanding cooperative housing initiatives.
Adanech said 119 housing cooperatives entered construction during the current Ethiopian fiscal year alone, accounting for 13,630 housing units. Under the arrangement, the city provides land and major infrastructure free of charge, while cooperatives cover only internal construction-related costs.
Separate housing programs targeting teachers have also begun construction, with more than 630 housing units already underway, according to the mayor.
Private developers and individual homebuilders are also contributing to the city’s housing stock. The administration says 3,273 housing units are currently being built through real estate apartment developments, while another 20,000 homes are under construction by individual residents.
Altogether, Adanech said nearly 166,000 housing units are currently under construction across Addis Ababa.
The mayor pledged stricter monitoring to ensure projects do not face the prolonged delays and interruptions that plagued earlier condominium programs. Looking ahead, the administration unveiled an ambitious long-term target to construct 100,000 houses annually if re-elected in the next electoral cycle.
“In our ten-year roadmap, we have officially set a target to build 100,000 houses every year,” Adanech said.
She argued that increasing overall housing supply through both government and private sector participation would gradually stabilize the city’s housing market.
“To tell the truth, we are already seeing market stabilization, especially in real estate housing sales,” the mayor said, adding that the administration has also observed an increase in rental housing supply across the city.
Still, she acknowledged persistent structural problems within the sector and pledged tighter government regulation to address corruption and inefficiencies in housing delivery systems.
“We will continue monitoring so that the existing distortions do not continue,” she said.