As part of the so-called “people-to-people”-centered Chinese approach, sports facilities, and especially soccer stadiums, have played a role in demonstrating China’s goodwill and human-focused policy framing toward African societies. Huge stadium construction has become part of the daily realities of many large African cities, part of a renewed phenomenon in the complex of Africa-China relations.
In this series, we will explore several of China’s sports stadium projects in various African countries. This first piece focused on the Talanta Sports Stadium in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Ethiopia has been transforming its capital into a modernized, greener, and better interconnected city at an unprecedented pace. China has been partnering in this multi-layered project (together with other external actors), which embraces road construction and renovation across Addis Ababa. The Adey Ababa Stadium, located near the international airport in Bole, is part of this overhaul of the city.
The Adey Ababa Stadium is planned to be an emblematic venue, both from the perspective of inner-city connectivity and for its basic function. Once finished, it may offer one of the largest such venues in Africa, with its 62,000-seat capacity able to hold such prestigious events as the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
AFCON is one of the sports highlights across the continent and beyond. The competition attracted a record number of viewers in 2024. As noted in a report from SuperSport, “The unprecedented success of AFCON is a big vote of confidence in African football. It proves that with the right people in place, African football is a globally competitive product that delivers commercial returns.”
In June 2024, Ethiopia officially submitted its bid to host the 2029 AFCON, and the Adey Ababa Stadium is a key part of its plan.
The stadium project itself, however, has experienced some challenges since its initiation in 2016.
The design competition was opened in 2011, but the highly impressive winning design was downgraded in 2014. The Ethiopian government finally signed a contract with Chinese State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. (CSCEC), which was supposed to finish the construction in September 2022.
This turned out to be impossible. According to the contractor, several factors resulted in a temporary halt to the work. Among these, the Chinese company mentioned the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and “the government’s failure to pay the advance payment to the contractor in foreign currency on time due to the shortage of foreign currency.”
However, tensions were also present between the government and CSCEC at this point, as the latter attempted to cover up an accident that resulted in fatalities. However, Ethiopian government reports at the same time stated that the project’s work up until then met domestic and international standards.
Construction work on the Adey Ababa Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as of late January 2023. Photo by Istvan Tarrosy.
Regarding the initial costs, a substantial amount of conflicting information has emerged. Sources from 2016 estimated the costs at 2 billion birr, approximately $94 million at that time, which was considered a rather low amount even at the time. Later, however, it became clear that this initial estimate – which eventually grew to 2.47 billion birr – was limited to the first phase; the construction costs for the second, final phase were estimated at 5.57 billion birr.
The Chinese company filed a demand for price adjustment, which the Ethiopian side finally could not accept. After several rounds of consideration and deliberation, it terminated the contract with CSCEC in February 2023. The stadium stood without work for nearly three years after failing to agree on a new financial arrangement due to rising construction costs.
CSCEC requested 17 billion birr, approximately $327 million based on the 2022 average exchange rate, to complete the project, which the government could not and did not want to provide. Reports suggest the Ethiopian authorities would have agreed to a 225 percent increase (compared to the second project’s cost of 5.57 billion birr) at 12.5 billion birr.
After the contract was terminated, the government opened an international tender and eventually announced the continuation of the project at a cost of $64 million in the spring of 2024, with the involvement of financing from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to some information, the support from the UAE is approximately $64 million, while other news sources estimate it to be around $50 million, but there is no information available about the construction.
Construction work on the Adey Ababa Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as of late January 2024. Photo by Istvan Tarrosy.
The amount allocated for the second phase was around 4 billion birr in the rapidly depreciating Ethiopian currency in April 2024 – this amount is now worth more than 8 billion birr at current rates. This raises the question of whether the stadium construction can truly be completed, as discussions with the previous investor indicated that such an amount would not be sufficient for the entire second phase.
The tender for the continued construction of the Adey Ababa Stadium was ultimately won by China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC). The work will now be carried out not by its subsidiary that has been building the Talanta Stadium in Kenya, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), but by another subsidiary active in road construction and airport expansion in Ethiopia: the China First Highway Engineering Co., Ltd (CFHEC).
On October 21, 2024, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, along with the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, visited the under-construction Adey Ababa Stadium and with that demonstrated the confidence of the Ethiopian side in the restarted project.
Although the work is still ongoing, questions regarding the costs remain, and the construction is not progressing at the same pace as we saw, for example, with the Talanta Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.
Construction work on the Adey Ababa Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as of late January 2025. Photo by Istvan Tarrosy.