Chinese contractor in Addis Ababa may face termination over mega stadium construction
The government of Ethiopia considers terminating its contract with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), over its huge financial adjustment claim to complete the second phase of the Adey Ababa stadium being built in Addis Ababa.
Although the second and final phase of the construction was launched in late 2020, the contractor has increased its cost adjustment by a third from the initial agreed budget of 5.5 billion birr, the Minister of Culture and Tourism indicated.
The Ethiopian government considered a cost adjustment since the escalation of construction materials and the weakening of the dollar-birr exchange rate. However, according to the government, CSCEC – a giant Chinese state enterprise – has been using the northern Ethiopia conflict and the continued inflation as leverage to request tens of billions of birr.
The 62,000-seat stadium project was launched in 2015, and the first phase of the project was built at a cost of 2.47 billion birr.
Published in The Reporter, a weekly English newspaper published by Media and Communications Center.