New AU headquarters in Addis Ababa to open in January

30 Nov, 2011

The recently-completed conference centre of the new headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa has passed an internal quality inspection, and the entire finished complex is due to be inaugurated in January by Chinese president Hu Jintao.

The $123 million project is backed by the Chinese government as part of its efforts to promote integration and unification in Africa, which it signed up to at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006.

Construction, which began in June 2009, is being overseen by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC). An Addis Ababa-based official from China's ministry of commerce described the headquarters as one of the biggest aid projects from China to Africa.

The building is situated on 11 hectares inside the current AU base, off Roosevelt St in the capital