Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Mahlet Mesfin
12 July 2011
A newly established spy agency, designated with the task of securing the nation’s information technology infrastructure, the Information Network & Security Agency (INSA), will soon have its ultramodern headquarters at a cost of 100 million Br, Fortune learned.
INSA’s headquarters is part of the federal government’s plan to construct several new buildings with a budget of 115 million Br for the 2010/11 fiscal year, according to the budget endorsed by Parliament.
The federal government is undertaking construction work for the headquarters of the Central Statistics Agency (CSA), the Ethiopian Customs and Revenues Authority (ERCA), the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) and the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA).
These buildings will cost the state a total of 238 million Br in total, of which ERCA and ERA have been denied building permits from the city government due to the newly introduced rules regulating building heights.
INSA wants to build its headquarters within five blocks, each with 13 to 17 storeys on a 16,000sqm plot granted by the Addis Abeba City Administration on the Ethio-China Friendship Road, inside what was previously the College of Telecommunications and Information Technology (CTIT) under the former Ethiopian Telecommunications Cooperation (ETC). The plot given to INSA in 2008 was previously reserved for the construction of hotels.
The design for INSA’s headquarters is developed by MH Consulting Engineers and Architects, which has its marks in the city’s architectural landscape, including the model units of the condominium houses. It is also known for its works with the former GTZ in designing the 10 university complexes built across the country.
The contract for the construction of INSA headquarters is overseen by the Office Building Project under the Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD), which is tasked to oversee construction works for state buildings.
However, the ministry is to pay only for one block as a first phase and is to place additional land requests to the city administration, sources in the ministry told Fortune. The construction of five blocks will require a total of 20,000sqm, according to the structural design developed by the consulting firm.
The other blocks are also presumed to cost the ministry more than 100 million Br, considering inflation factors, people close to the project argue.
The construction work has been given to Defence Construction and Engineering Enterprise (DCEE) of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), without a competitive bidding.
“It is considering the nature of the institution with security issues which influenced the decision to select the construction firm,” an official at MoWUD told Fortune.
INSA was established in December 2006 and is directly accountable to the Prime Minister. It is responsible for monitoring acts of crime and terrorism waged on the national information communications networking system. It also works on software development, hardware programming, networking and network security.
The Agency is currently operating from its three offices, including an eight-storey building located on South Africa Street, and an office located in the Old Airport area, and rented from a private developer.
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