Ethiopia targets 1.5 million homes in five years, minister tells World Cities Day dialogue
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Urban and Infrastructure Minister Mohammed Abdurahman said Ethiopia's five-year target is 1.5 million housing units, speaking at the World Cities Day 2026 high-level dialogue at UNECA in Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia is stepping up efforts to address urban housing and infrastructure challenges amid an annual urbanisation rate of 5.4 per cent, Minister of Urban and Infrastructure Mohammed Abdurahman said at the World Cities Day 2026 High-level Dialogue held at the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa.
The minister said the government's five-year target of building 1.5 million housing units forms part of broader efforts to expand housing opportunities and respond to the needs of growing urban populations. He argued that adequate housing should be viewed not merely as the construction of buildings but as a foundation for dignity, security, opportunity and inclusive social transformation.
He said the Grand Medemer Strategy provides the framework for accelerating urban transformation through coordinated planning, domestic resource mobilisation and sustainable development interventions, and that the ministry is advancing an Urban Agenda Platform for 2025-2030 to improve policy dialogue, programme coordination, resource mobilisation, joint monitoring and knowledge sharing.
The platform is expected to operate under the ministry's leadership, with the World Bank as co-chair and UN-Habitat serving as secretariat. The minister called on government institutions, development partners, financial institutions, the private sector, academia and communities to contribute expertise, financing, technology and institutional capacity to the urban transformation agenda.
UN-Habitat's director of the Regional Office for Africa, Oumar Sylla, said the agency had strengthened partnerships with ministries, the Addis Ababa city administration, regional government and federal institutions, and commended Ethiopia for leading on the green economy of cities. He welcomed the government's ambition to deliver 1.5 million housing units over the next five years and reaffirmed UN-Habitat's commitment to help mobilise investment and strengthen the enabling environment for affordable housing delivery.
The dialogue was held under the theme "Regenerating the City: Adequate Housing for All in Ethiopian Cities". The minister also highlighted the importance of integrating climate resilience, environmental sustainability and preparedness for climate-related risks into housing and urban development investment, as Ethiopia prepares to host COP32 in Addis Ababa in November 2027.