Chaltu Pushes to Modernise Infrastructure Ministry

Jan 10 , 2026. By YITBAREK GETACHEW ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

A sweeping assessment is underway at the Ministry of Urban & Infrastructure Development, where 17,000 employees, from the Ethiopian Roads Administration to the Construction Management Institute, are facing a new kind of test. Employees who pass these competency-based assessments will find new paths to promotions, while those who fall short will enter capacity-building programs, all part of a broader federal drive to root out inefficiency in the civil service.

Chaltu Sani, minister of Urban & Infrastructure Development, has launched a comprehensive competency-based assessment program targeting thousands of employees under her Ministry’s purview. The initiative forms part of a broader federal reform effort rooting out inefficiencies in a civil service historically driven by tenure rather than performance.

Employees of the Ministry and its affiliated agencies, estimated to reach 17,000, will be required to take tests this year. Those who pass will be eligible for promotions and new opportunities. Employees who do not meet the required standards will be enrolled in capacity-building programs and will continue to receive pay until they pass the assessments.

Affiliated entities include the Ethiopian Roads Administration, with 6,000 permanent employees, the Construction Authority, and the Construction Management Institute, which employs about 270 staff, while the Construction Authority has around 100. These numbers cover only the federal level and rise significantly when regional and city administrations are included.

The program is expected to expand to regional administrations, marking a shift toward a more performance-driven approach in civil service staffing.

Minister Chaltu, who oversees a total budget of over two billion Birr in this fiscal year, has begun partnering with universities to develop training materials, exam content, and assessment methodologies.

Chaltu’s career began in municipal administration, serving as Mayor of Lagatafo-Laga Dadi, a peri-urban town northeast of Addis Abeba. She has also served in her current portfolio since October 2021. Her appointment to the federal cabinet marks the continuation of a public service career rooted in the Oromia Regional State, where she served as the Deputy Chief Administrator in 2019. She coordinated the Regional State economic cluster.

Her previous leadership of the Oromia Revenues Authority, beginning in 2018, a role preceded by her service as Bureau Head of Oromia’s Urban Development & Housing Bureau, where she oversaw regional policies on urban growth and affordable housing, issues she would later confront at the federal level.

Unlike many of her peers in infrastructure and urban development ministries worldwide, Chaltu does not have a background in civil engineering, architecture, or urban planning. Instead, her academic training lies in the field of education management. She did a postgraduate study in educational leadership and management at Addis Abeba University, completing it around early 2015. Her postgraduate work focused on institutional leadership and sectoral management.

Chaltu's current portfolio spans urban development, housing policy, and infrastructure oversight.

Last week, the Minister signed agreements with four national institutions, including the Addis Abeba University, the Civil Service University, and the Ethiopian Competence & Management Institute. These institutions will develop exam manuals, training guidelines, and competency-based materials. Her senior officials say the sector needs civil service employees with strong technical skills and professional competence, able to meet the demands of urban development and infrastructure projects.

"The new reforms are designed to ensure the civil service is staffed by qualified professionals, especially in construction, development planning, and urban reform," Chaltu told affiliated institutions last week.

The Ministry's officials acknowledge a lack of qualified professionals in the sector.

The Ministry's undertaking in its employee reassessment and restaffing is part of a broader civil service reform program that impacts a federal workforce of more than 2.5 million. Preparatory work and implementation began in July 2025.

Under Mekuria Haile (PhD), commissioner of the Ethiopian Civil Service, the Commission is undergoing institutional reform, whose objective, he argued, is not to lay off workers, but to build a more capable public sector.

“Those who fail the test and don't achieve the required results even after receiving training will be trained for a period," Mekuria told federal lawmakers last November. "If they don't change anything, then they will be dismissed.”

Earlier in 2024, the Addis Abeba City Administration carried out a competency and behavioural assessment of its civil servants. Results revealed a high failure rate, with only 44pc of the 15,151 staff who sat the test passing. The assessment, which measured skills and professional conduct, was part of the city administration’s civil service reform program. Addis Abeba and Kotebe universities, administered the reassessment test.

Chaltu disclosed last week that a second round of competency assessments is scheduled for this year. According to the Minister, the goal is to strengthen institutional capacity, not to reduce the workforce.

“There is no need to create unnecessary confusion,” the Minister told affiliated institutions. "The reform is constructive in nature. The goal is to improve competence, identify skill gaps, and establish a continuous capacity-building system.”

The Minister reassured that there is no reason for "misinterpretation or unnecessary worry."

Over the next four months, the Ministry and the federal institutions under its supervision plan to conduct training and capacity-building programs based on assessment results.

The second round of public service and administration reform, initiated last year in eight ministries, including Chaltu's, began this year. According to Tesfaye Woldemichael, senior advisor at the Ministry and chair of the Technical Committee on Public Service & Administration Reform, about 600 staff members are involved in the reform, which is being rolled out across the Ministry's affiliated agencies.

“When we complete the reform at the federal level, we'll move on to the regions,” Tesfaye said. “This year, the focus is on federal institutions. Every employee will undergo the assessment, and based on the results, each will receive what they merit.”

Segni Desalew, a professional architect with more than a decade of experience working for affiliated agencies, views the reform as a positive step to gauge the actual capacity of human resources, especially in the construction sector. He believes rigorous and practical competency assessments could raise the standard of project delivery.

“Roles are often filled by professionals working outside their expertise, a practice that needs to change,” Segni told Fortune. “The system should make us ask who is fit for a given project. If the assessment is practical, it'll be much more effective.”

However, Segni urged that the competency tests be hands-on and performance-based, rather than theoretical or written. His voice is echoed by experts such as Assegid Getachew (PhD), former state minister for Labour & Skills, who called the initiative a bold reform but acknowledged that there are considerable challenges. He noted that competency-based assessments are a global standard in civil service systems. In Ethiopia, however, civil servants have rarely faced regular capacity assessments after recruitment.

“This reform changes the reality on the ground,” he said. “It allows employees to evaluate their own capabilities, identify gaps, and improve their effectiveness. Those who fail the assessments will receive coaching and capacity-building support.”

Civil service employee received training only at recruitment, often working for decades without updating their skills.

“That system created stagnation,” he said. “This reform encourages civil servants to read, study, and continuously upgrade their capacity. In the past, a worker could continue without updating skills until retirement. The new reform will change that, even if the assessment is conducted only once.”

According to Assegid, experience-based job placement has long lacked standardised evaluation mechanisms, relying on tenure instead of competence. The new approach should introduce objective standards. Assegid foresees that if well integrated, the reform could transform public institutions. However, he called for caution about employee resistance and the leadership's lack of commitment.

“Workers may resist because they're used to working without assessments,” he said. “The authorities should show strong commitment, because this reform applies to them as well.”

PUBLISHED ON Jan 10,2026 [ VOL 26 , NO 1341]