Only 26 African countries had achieved independence when, in February 1961, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie ascended a sloping staircase to inaugurate Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, which he gifted as the new headquarters for the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
A dominating presence in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, adorned with a sweeping 150-square-meter (1,614-square-foot) stained-glass window, the structure, designed by Italian architect Arturo Mezzedimi, had taken just 18 months to build. Fittingly then, it didn’t take long before the building became the site of a landmark event in the story of modern Africa.
Just over two years later, Selassie once again made the climb to welcome the founding members of the newly formed Organization of African Unity (OAU) to their home — a meeting place intended to foster cooperation, drive economic progress and eradicate colonialism across the continent.
Addressing representatives of the then-32 independent African states, Selassie declared that the continent was “at midcourse, in transition from the Africa of yesterday to the Africa of tomorrow.”
“We must act to shape and mold the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history,” he continued. More than 60 years later, Selassie’s message has come full-circle: Africa Hall has been shaped and molded anew.
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