The merger of the two associations put 1,780 members in one umbrella

Mar 16 , 2019
By KALIKIDAN HAILU ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )


Two sectoral associations in the construction industry have joined hands to avoid redundancy, increase their influence and accomplish a better utilisation of resources.

The Construction Contractors Association of Ethiopia (CCAE ) and the Association of Ethiopian Class One Contractors' (AECOC) merged last week. The merger was approved during the general assembly of the two associations held at Capital Hotel, on Haile G. Silassie Avenue. The merger raised the number of member contractors of the new association to 1,780.

During the general assembly of the two associations, members voted on the merger, and elected a new board of directors comprised of nine members. Seven of the board members are from the CCAE, while two are from the AECOC. They also elected a president and a vice president of the association.



The merger idea materialised to avoid redundancy, according to Tewodros Zewde, head of the office of the new association.


"We face the same challenges in the industry that need to be addressed," said Tewodros. “It seemed like a good idea to join forces to address them."

Established in 1991 the CCAE had 1,725 registered members who fall under different grades, while the AECC was formed in 2006 with 13 members but had 55 at the time of the merger.




During the formation of the AECOC, the members did not want to merge with the CCAE, according to Mulugeta Gesese, board secretariat of the new association and past head of the office of the AECOC.

"The founding members believed that CCAE couldn't serve their interest," said Mulugeta. "But as the problem in the construction industry gets bigger, we decided for the merger."


The construction industry contributed 19.3pc of the national GDP in the past fiscal year. It also consumes the largest share of the government budget in the last fiscal year, accounting for 50 billion Br, a sixth of the total budget.

The next step will be merging with other associations in the construction industry, according to Mulugeta.

The Ethiopian Electromechanical Contractors and the Ethiopian Water Related Works Construction Contractors associations are among the other associations in the construction industry.

The four associations signed a memorandum of understanding last year for a coalition.


"We've started the process of the merger," said Mulugeta.

The AECOC has made the right decision in the merger, according to Abebe Dinku (Prof.), a civil engineer and expert in the construction industry.

"As their number was very few" , "it was hard to fulfill their interests under the former association, said Abebe."



PUBLISHED ON Mar 16,2019 [ VOL 19 , NO 985]


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