A Mile With… Assefa, The Stadium Builder
Assefa Mekonnen is a manager at the government of the Amhara Region in northwest Ethiopia. He showed me around the construction site of the regional government’s prestige project: a new stadium in the region’s capital Bahir Dar seating 50.000 people. Assefa is enthusiastic about the stadium that is supposed to open in 2013 – he hopes for big football teams to play here after inauguration. He told me that in the first construction phase, the region has spent 400 million Ethiopian Birr (about 18 million Euros) on the project.
In Bahir Dar, I saw many more construction sites telling of the country’s economic growth which the government predicts to be at 11 percent this year. Yet, some critics say that the Ethiopian boom is based too much on borrowing money and investment focused too much on prestige projects. For me, the construction sites and the vibrant city of Bahir Dar provided a stark contrast to the subsistence farming I saw along the way in rural northwest Ethiopia.
3 Comments
Assefa Mekonnen | 8:59 am
Hello Peter, I am very happy what you have done about our stadium. Off course the photo is very small. If it is possible for you, post all the photos you take.
Dessalegne | 10:45 am
I am glad to you have done about Bahirdar Stadium. As you have seen the people of Amhara is not building stadium only. In all towns of Amhara many constructions are going on, asphalt and cobblestone roads, condominum houses, other infrastructures are also constructed in the urban and rural. Peter, if it is possible for you, please post all the photo you take from bahirdar. It is a witness how Bahirdar is growing fast.
dereje haile | 2:59 pm
it is my greate pleasure to see a project like this in my home town. keep it up. i will try my best in supporting it!!!