This area 12 km east of the city centre, also known as civil service area after the Ethiopian Civil Service College located here, is undergoing a process of rapid growth due to the availability of cheap land. Housing is typically in bungalows or two/three-storey houses in small compounds.

There are plenty of small shops and kiosks along the main road for essential supplies; traffic is heavy, especially at rush hour, when it can be difficult to catch a minibus into town. Owning a car here is a plus. Off the main road, the area is quiet but the roads are in poor condition. To the south, on the southern side of the road leading due east out of Addis Ababa, lies CMC, a new residential compound popular with expatriates. Named after the Italian construction company that built it in the early 1990s, it consists of 500 homes apartments and two-storey townhouses of varying sizes in a secure compound with a well-tended garden.

Two price systems, one for Ethiopians and the other for foreigners, apply. Rents are higher here than in other parts of Kotebe. The compound has two supermarkets, a gym and a childrens playground, as well as parking. To the south there are construction sites as far as the eye can see.