Key Takeaways
Residents gathered anxiously two weeks ago in a parking lot nestled within Noah Real Estate's community, in the rapidly expanding Bole Beshale neighbourhood on the northern outskirts of Addis Abeba. Under a gloomy sky, neighbours murmured nervously, unsettled by the looming threat of substantial fines and the abrupt demand from local authorities to stop their sewage disposal immediately.
Kibruyisfa Tamiru was one of the community leaders who organised the urgent meeting. He told worried residents that the gated community, one of several around the area, has been drawn to an uncertain future. His words echoed through the crowd, capturing a widespread sense of anxiety. Most residents did not understand why the fines — up to 400,000 Br — suddenly became their responsibility.
"We didn't know about this until now," Kibruyisfa later admitted, echoing a widespread sense of confusion and frustration.
For these residents, the reality of urban living has suddenly become much harsher. With around 650 denizens producing roughly 300,000 litres of wastewater daily, the existing septic system is failing, overwhelmed by a volume far beyond its designed capacity. Instead of proper sewage treatment, contaminated water is pouring untreated into the open, prompting Wereda officials to take urgent action.
Recent visits by members of code enforcement from the Wereda, demanding hefty fines, caught residents off guard.
"This is too hasty," one resident complained.
The frustration mirrors a sentiment shared across Addis Abeba, where rapid urban expansion frequently outpaces infrastructure development. According to Kibruyisfa, now chairing a committee to find solutions, residents urgently need more time and technical help.
"We need time to explore potential solutions," he pleaded.
Time seems to be running against his committee. Local authorities have warned that failure to comply could result in cuts to essential utilities like electricity and water.
"We're in great danger of losing our residency," said Kibruyisfa, worried.
Noah Real Estate, one of Addis Abeba's leading developers, has faced similar scrutiny elsewhere. Over 2400 property owners on its largest apartment complexes, around Figga and Goro were subjected to pay 300,000 Br fines each for discharging sewages into public sewerage.
Founded by brothers Tewedros and Dawit Zerihun, the company has delivered around 9,000 residential and commercial units over the past decade. Yoseph Desta, Noah’s legal director, expressed frustration over what he described as "unreasonable demands" from the authorities, particularly given the substantial infrastructure investments already made by the developer.
"They require exorbitant investments that developers are not prepared to make," Yoseph told Fortune.
The company has at the time spent 4.8 million Br on filtering tanks.
"It was not our responsibility to build them," he insisted.
Tension between developers, residents, and local authorities has become a common scene across the city, a symptom of Addis Abeba's rapid but often chaotic expansion.
Flintstones Homes, another well-known real estate company, faces a similar predicament. Brook Shimeles, a board director, described a situation in the Goro neighbourhood, where 600 residents have each been fined 300,000 Br for waste management violations.
Brook argued firmly: "The proper infrastructure should precede these demands."
The problem these communities face manifests broader infrastructural inadequacies in Addis Abeba’s Lemi Kura District, an area that has become a hub for upper-middle and middle-class residential developments. Despite ambitious plans to build over 320,000 housing units, many developments remain disconnected from proper sewage lines. Noah's projects in neighbourhoods such as Enkulal Fabrika, with 600 units, and Ayat, with 900 units, struggle under similar circumstances. In the Abware area, development has stalled entirely, impacting 160 buyers awaiting sewage connections.
Tsehay Real Estate, across from the CMC residential complex, have its property owners subjected to similar monetary penalities for failing to comply with the city's waste disposal codes.
Local officials acknowledge these problems but urge communities to devise temporary solutions.
"Efforts are underway," said Tesfa Fisseha, the District’s senior water and sewage official.
However, his reassurance offers little comfort to residents bearing unexpected fines.
For Lemmessa Gudeta, deputy head of the Addis Abeba Environmental Protection Authority, these penalties are a necessary response to long-standing dereliction of duty.
"Urban dwellers have long taken pollution for granted," he said. "Regulation enforcement has been tightened."
A recently introduced city-wide regulation intended to address rampant pollution and illegal waste disposal brought to the fore issues that city officials feel are ignored. The stringent enforcement has caused uproar, with real estate developers arguing that it unfairly burdens homeowners.
Yoseph from Noah Real Estate insisted that the authorities have failed to meet their obligations.
"Authorities should hold their end of the deal before burdening the public," he argued.
Pawlos Tamirat, from Addis Ababa’s Housing Development Administration, disputed that developers themselves should have ensured infrastructure completion before transferring properties.
"Developers should have ensured sewage lines were in place before selling homes," he asserted.
The debate revealed a gap in urban governance where rapid development has outpaced critical services and infrastructure, leaving residents vulnerable. It also includes residents in public housing projects. The Arabsa Condominium in Sefera Mariam, which consists of over 320,000 residential units, is where Tigist Adane, a schoolteacher, lives. She described the daily struggle with inadequate infrastructure as "a constant nightmare." She lamented that city officials have ignored residents' repeated appeals.
Despite these ongoing frustrations, the city administration insists efforts are being made. Mayor Adanech Abeibe recently visited development sites and announced plans for a 42Km riverside rehabilitation project. Her administration wants to clean and transform polluted rivers under the broader "Beautifying Sheger Project," intended to turn Addis Abeba into a tourist attraction.
“Rivers have to stop being waste dumps,” said project manager Tages Geberekirstos.
Yet, funding shortages have delayed its implementation, perpetuating residents' anxieties.
Basic sanitation remains a severe shortage. Only about 30pc of the city’s population has access to proper sewage systems.
Dawit Bade, a sewage expert at the city's water and sewage authority, admits the massive shortfall in infrastructure and resources. He cites the city’s outdated sewage treatment plants, operating far below their capacity, and the inadequacy of current resources, including only 80 tank trucks, as telltale of systemic failures.
Ethiopia ranks alarmingly high — 26th globally — in open defecation, exacerbating public health risks. UNICEF has launched a 46.5-million-dollar project to end the practice by 2030. A recent study by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute revealed severe pollution in Addis Abeba's Aqaqi River, with contaminated waters posing a direct threat to communities' health. Poor sanitation contributes to about 80pc of communicable diseases nationwide, intensifying public health concerns.
Residents like Samia Hassen from Legetafo, who lack basic sanitation services, have no choice but to dispose of waste openly.
"This is the only way," she conceded.
Thousands of low-income residents across the city face such dire conditions. Experts warn that punitive measures without substantial investment in infrastructure risk exacerbating rather than resolving these crises.
Zeleke Agide, an associate professor at the Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources, under the Addis Abeba University, criticised the city’s approach. He warned that heavy-handed enforcement would likely backfire without substantial improvements in infrastructure and public awareness.
"There is a traditional outlook toward wastage," Zeleke observed, urging for cultural shifts alongside infrastructural development.
Mamo Kasegn, another expert in water resource engineering from Addis Abeba University, echoed this sentiment more bluntly. He described current enforcement measures as "the cart before the horse," stating that infrastructure development should precede stringent regulations.
Noah Real Estate and other developers scramble to find practical and immediate solutions as the controversy rages. Kibruyisfa’s committee has already begun discussions with technical consultants, hoping for a reprieve from authorities to implement feasible improvements.
"We’ll know what to do after that," Kibruyisfa told Fortune, displaying cautious optimism.
However, optimism alone would not solve Addis Abeba’s pressing environmental crisis. Experts like Zeleke and Mamo insist that progress will demand sustained investment, strategic planning, and cooperation between authorities, developers, and residents alike. In their absence, they forewarn that the daily lives of thousands in Addis Abeba remain uncertain, caught between stringent regulations and a city unprepared to handle the rapid pace of urbanisation.
City officials appear determined to push with their enforcement zeal. They have deployed over 6,000 code enforcers, taking administrative actions against those they deem non-compliant. Girum Woldemeskel, director of the city’s Code Enforcement Authority, confirmed the aggressive administrative measures will continue.
"There is no turning back," he told Fortune. "We'll continue to enforce the law, no matter the cost."
Other real estate developers saw the silver lining in the new regulations. They believe the law could encourage responsible behavior and development along the city’s rivers, although many neighborhoods still lack basic sewage connections. Gift Real Estate, which has built over 10,000 homes in the past 30 years, has a site with more than 2,000 residents waiting for access to the main sewage system. For now, they depend on septic tanks for waste disposal.
“The sites are still waiting to be connected to the sewage lines,” said Gebreyesus Igata, managing director of Gift Real Estate.
Despite the delays, he remains hopeful that solutions are within reach.
“We're confident solutions will come soon,” he said.
Water shortages are adding to the strain. The city depends on 238 underground wells and three dams to produce 800,000 cubic meters of water daily, but that is still insufficient for the growing population. Around 1.7 million residents receive water only twice a week. Rapid population growth, inadequate sewage systems, and poor usage of existing facilities have increased the pressure on the city’s resources.
PUBLISHED ON
Apr 06, 2025 [ VOL
26 , NO
1301]
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