SLEEPLESS CAPITAL


SLEEPLESS CAPITAL

A street fence around Saris provides residents with an alternative to hang washed clothes for drying. New regulations from the Addis Abeba City Cabinet Buildings must be at least 10m from the leading road edge. At the same time, five metres and two metres distance are required from sub-main roads and neighbourhood roads, respectively. While the regulations stemmed from realisations during the construction of the Grand Corridor project, they will determine construction aesthetics in the foreseeable future. Despite being a few months away from competition, the project has transformed the capital's aesthetics. In addition to the 100Km of bicycle lanes and 96Km of pedestrian sidewalks, several street-side sub-standard neighbourhoods have been razed to make way for contemporary projects.

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In-Picture

UNCOVERED WILDERNESS

The long-shuttered plot at Mexico Square finally breathes again as fences come down, revealing a vast open space once hidden from public view earmarked for Abyssinia Bank's future headquarters. The site now stretches bare and sunlit, drawing curious passersby, midday loungers, and a lone umbrella-shaded onlooker. In a city of concrete and congestion, even temporary emptiness feels like a quiet revolution. It now showcases a wilderness in the middle of the busy streets of Mexico...


In-Picture

GO SEEK

Minalesh Tera, one of Addis Abeba's busiest and most chaotic markets, draws hundreds if not thousands daily in search of cheaper essentials. Shoulder-to-shoulder crowds navigate narrow, dusty paths between makeshift stalls, where vendors hawk everything from onions and engine parts to plasticware and traditional remedies. It's a sensory overload and a lifeline rolled into one, an open-air maze where the practical meets the unexpected, and affordability drives the city's daily grind...


In-Picture

TERMINAL TREASURES

From left: Jantirar Abay, Deputy Mayor and Head of the Industry Bureau; Ayderus H.M. Farag, CEO of Alfarag Trading PLC; and Getaneh Adera, Acting CEO of Ethiopian Airports, chat during the opening of Alfarag's refurbished duty-free shops at Bole International Airport on June 18, 2025. The two stores, located in Terminal 2's Departure Hall, span 1,000sqm. Alfarag, established in Dire Dawa in 1923, became Ethiopia's first private duty-free retailer in 2003...