Africa Hall, Addis Ababa

Africa Hall is a building of great importance for Africa as it symbolizes African independence and an optimistic future for the countries of this continent. Africa Hall is the permanent headquarters of UNECA, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The structure, built in the span of only 18 months, was completed in February 1961. The main feature of the building is its stained glass windows that depict the suffering of many poor people on this continent. You can see the Filwoha springs that flow very close to the Africa Hall. These springs are very beautiful and that is why the emperor decided to found Addis Ababa here.

Along with the Addis Ababa City Hall, Africa Hall was one of the two projects designed to demonstrate, in the words of Emperor Haile Selassie, “that it is possible to construct grand buildings here too [in Ethiopia], by erecting a couple of high-profile structures. It is not their complexity or size that matter, but the maximum possible use of home-produced materials, in order to shake our wealthy middle class (which keeps its money under the mattress) from the inactivity that also binds it in the field of construction, and stimulate it to invest its assets also in building to make this ‘great village’ a city and a true great capital”.