The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s Minister of Construction Aisha Mohammed Mussa said that the second most important sector in the Ethiopian economy is the Construction Sector in terms of workforce and 9.5 percent of the GDP in 2016. This sector is crucial in ensuring the successful transformation of the economy. Ms. Aisha Mohammed while speaking at the African Union Conference Hall, said that the construction industry is crucial to ensure a rapid, sustainable and equitable socio-economic development of the country.
As a key force in contributing to the promotion of entrepreneurship and private sector development, she said that the construction industry needs to be transformed priority much ahead of time to ensure the successful transformation in other sectors. But the industry in itself presents many opportunities due to the existing shortages such as materials, quality-related problems, time and cost overruns that attribute to its poor performance due to inexperienced companies running projects etc. According to the Minister, shortage of competent, registered and certified human resources together with lack of effective construction project management and the change-resistant behavior of the industry to adopt the dynamism of the technology has resulted in low productivity. So Ethiopia is looking to events like the Buildexpo Africa which has become a key medium in East Africa to invite companies from around the world to participate in the growth of the country. The responses through this platform have been amazing as productivity is also a major aim. The industry leaders are already doing a lot in Ethiopia, but it is important to realize that the government needs to increase productivity further in order to meet the country’s development targets.
