Ethiopian real estate developers are turning to arbitration to resolve disputes with homebuyers as the sector braces for the implementation of a sweeping new law.
A nine-month-old lobby group, the Ethiopian Real Estate Developers Association (EREDA), on Thursday signed an agreement with the country’s oldest business membership organization, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (AACCSA), to tap into the Chamber’s arbitration expertise. The Chamber began offering arbitration services in the 1960s, suspended them during the Derg’s socialist rule in the 1970s and 1980s, and resumed the practice in the 1990s.
Both the establishment of EREDA by 29 leading firms and its latest push to promote alternative dispute resolution follow a landmark bill ratified by Parliament last year that seeks to bring order to a historically chaotic sector.
Alemayehu Ketema, president of EREDA, which now has about 100 members, said trust and accountability from developers would be essential if they are to help build the 1.5 million homes Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) recently said the country needs. He said that under the new legal framework, buyers who have fully paid for their homes should be protected.
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