The Ethiopian Construction Industry Council has been established with the mandate to modernize the construction sector.

The establishment of the Council was officially declared following a successful completion of a two-day founding conference held at the Sheraton Addis on 26 December 2017.

The conference brought together various stakeholders of the construction industry with the aim of creating a stakeholders’ forum that formulates and deliberates on policy ideas to enhance the contribution of the construction industry to the overall development of the country.

The Council is said to play a pivotal role in identifying shortcomings in the industry through studies and proposing alternative solutions, formulate ideas that would help the practical implementation of policies, programmes, laws and strategic issues geared towards modernizing the sector.

The regulation passed recently by the Council of Ministers provided for the establishment of the Construction Industry Council, which will be presided over by the Prime Minister.

Appropriate government organs, presidents of regional states, Mayors of the City Administrations of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, representatives of the private sector, among others, will be members of the Council.

The Government has formed a Technical Committee appointed from various areas of the sector. Dr. Engineer Sileshi Bekele Awulachew will lead the Technical Committee.

President of the Ethiopian Consulting Engineers and Architects Association (ECEAA), Architect Bizuayehu Sitotaw Getahun, is one of the eleven-member Technical Committee. Architect Bizuayehu said the Council will have a great role to play in the advancement of the construction industry as it will enable both the government and the private sector to contribute to the improvement of technological and policy related aspects of the sector.

“Our association and various professionals have been calling for the formation of the Council for a long time and that its realization now is a major breakthrough,” the ECEAA President said. He added professionals of the sector will now have the opportunity to bring their ideas and even recommend possible solutions for the problems the construction industry is facing.