UNECA to inaugurate its renovated Africa Hall located in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, September 19, 2024 (FBC) – The renovation and refurbishment of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA’s) Africa Hall, a truly living symbol of African history, unity, culture, and architecture, is nearing completion and will be inaugurated next month.

Historically, the Africa Hall, located in the capital of Ethiopia, became a famous landmark venue for pan-African and African Renaissance events and it was the birthplace of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which is now the African Union (AU), and whose founding Charter was signed in the Hall in 1963.

Africa Hall Project Manager, Antonio Baio said that the renovation is aimed at transforming the Africa Hall to a rejuvenated facility, complying with the highest international standards for conference facilities.

Restoring the historical and cultural values embedded in its architecture, the other objective of the project is to include a permanent exhibition to make Africa Hall one of the leading destinations in Addis Ababa and highlight its significant role in modern African history and culture, he added.

The Project Manager stated that the overall budget funded by the General Assembly for the implementation of the project is about 57 million USD.

“Most of the renovation work has been completed. We are planning to have the inauguration on the 21st of October, 2024 at the presence of high-level authority. This renovation cost around 57 million USD that was funded by the General Assembly,” Antonio Baio elaborated.

Similar to the New York and Geneva offices, there will be visitors’ center where permanent exhibition will be displayed and member countries will hold special events, it was indicated.

Structural and technological upgrade, resilience, safe and comfortable functionality, heritage conservation, restoration and preservation of historical elements were among the major accomplishments of the project, according to him.

“The desire of the project that we were able to achieve was to bring back this building to be a real state-of-the-art. We have the most advanced technology now in the room …but the principle remains there. So we were trying to balance between the respect of the architectural and the respect of cultural and historical value that are embedded in the building,” he emphasized.

The Africa Hall was conceived and donated by Emperor Hailesilassie of Ethiopia in the early 1960s.