House units under construction by a state-owned company remain in limbo due to financial shortages while officials contemplate selling parts of the units to finance the rest. The Federal Housing Corporation faces a liquidity crunch, and approached private banks for loans, but the banks asked the Corporation to show 30pc of finance before facilitating the rest.

However, this did not bear fruit for the Corporation.

Under Reshad Kemal, the Corporation received 1.6 billion Br in revenues from 18,600 residential and commercial units in Dire Dewa and Addis Abeba. Haileberhan Zena, the deputy head of the Corporation, hopes the number will reach 20,000 when some of their projects in the capital are finished. Despite this, the Corporation is still facing financial shortages.

Experts from the Corporation conducted a study to adjust unit rental fees. However, it could not be implemented due to the Addis Abeba City Administration banning housing rental fee rise. This restriction has been extended for an additional six months by the City Cabinet.

The housing shortage in the capital has been exacerbating over the years, with rent prices increasing and income stagnating.

Samuel Mulat, 49, who moved to the capital from Methara town after securing a job, has been living with his wife in a rental house around the Wossen neighbourhood in the north-eastern part of the city. He is employed under one of the City Administration bureaus; two-thirds of his 9,000 Br net pay goes to pay rent. He recalled when he used to pay a monthly rent of 300 Br when he first came to the capital in 2009.

"I spend most of my income on rent," he told Fortune.

To earn extra cash, Samuel trains in the gym near his home. He has saved 1,000 Br a month for the condominium housing program for 10 years, hoping and waiting for the next draw to become a homeowner.

The finance shortage has caused concern for the Ministry of Urban & Development. The lack of construction of condominiums in the budget year was revealed to Parliamentarians during the six-month performance report. However, officials hope there will be progress in the second half of the budget year since 25,000 housing units are transferred to their owners, easing the loan burden from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

Mayor Adanech Abiebie, last week, gave instructions to address the cost variation and shortage of construction inputs to complete ongoing condominium projects before the end of the year. The Ministry intends to construct 4.8 million housing units, with 80pc to be built by the private sector. Real estate developers, public-private partnerships, and unions are considered to take the lion's share of housing construction under its 10-year plan.