New Addis Ababa map.

07 Aug, 2007

The Addis Ababa tourism authorities have launched a new city map ahead of the Ethiopian millennium celebrations in September. Prepared by Geospatial Information Solutions Plc at a cost of 500,000 birr, the document provides invaluable up-to-date information about the city for first-time visitors including street names, government offices, embassies, hotels and banks. It will be available both on-line and in print form, distributed through the airport, supermarkets, tour agents, hotels and other outlets.

The Ethiopian capital is a difficult city to navigate as many streets either have no name or have multiple names, and often local landmarks such as churches or even phone booths are used as reference points rather than addresses. The problem is compounded by the fact that official maps are hard to come by. The new map is only the third official map to have been drawn up of the city.