Aiming to aggressively tackle the housing shortage, the Addis Ababa City Administration is adopting key strategies from Azerbaijan’s urban renewal model to bolster its plan to construct 100,000 homes annually.

A delegation led by Mayor Adanech Abiebie toured the "Sea Breeze Project" in Azerbaijan, a massive 16-year development initiative featuring 50,000 homes, hotels, and integrated infrastructure. The visit served as a strategic study on how Azerbaijan successfully leverages private-sector partnerships to revitalize aging districts and transform underutilized land into modern urban hubs.

The Addis Ababa City Administration is currently accelerating its own domestic efforts to achieve its annual housing target. By targeting dilapidated areas and repurposing previously neglected sites such as the Forest Project, Gelan-Gura, Muhamediya Village, and Addis Tomorrow, the city is working to create comfortable, modern living spaces that resemble the scale and ambition of the Azerbaijani projects observed by the delegation.

Beyond solving the housing crisis, these large-scale urban renewal projects are central to the administration's vision of establishing the capital as a premier tourism destination. City officials emphasized that by integrating international best practices into local development, they intend to enhance Addis Ababa’s global competitiveness and ensure the city’s growth matches its namesake, the "New Flower."