Ethiopia has commenced construction of 100,000 housing units across 21 sites in Addis Ababa, under a five-year national programme targeting 1.5 million homes.

Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abiebie stated this on Friday after inspecting several ongoing housing projects alongside Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Commenting on the initiative, Ms Abiebie described the initiative as “Turning Promises into Action,” highlighting the administration’s efforts to translating its housing commitment into concrete projects.

According to the mayor, the city administration is financing 50,000 of the housing units, while the remaining 50,000 are being delivered through public-private partnerships and housing associations.

Mr Abiy and Ms Abiebie also visited 33 housing blocks in Tulu Dimtu and nine blocks in Qetela Tera, where they assessed progress on the projects.

The prime minister said that Ethiopia’s housing needs extended beyond the current target, noting that millions of additional homes were needed to improve living standards in urban and rural communities.

He highlighted the difficult living conditions in rural households, where some farmers live alongside their livestock, as well as urban residents without adequate sanitation, clean water, electricity and proper toilet facilities.

Mr Abiy said achieving the housing target would require greater investment in construction materials, skilled labour, appropriate building designs and accessible financing.

He added that the government was working to boost domestic production of steel, glass and ceramics to reduce dependence on imported construction materials.

The programme is expected to combine government investment, private-sector participation and mortgage financing to make homeownership more accessible to citizens.

The government announced the five-year target in July after reporting that it had constructed 1.2 million houses in the previous seven years.

The prime minister added that similar housing projects were being implemented in other cities and rural areas as the government seeks to improve living conditions across the country.