Where should I live in Addis Ababa?

This is the most commonly asked question every expatriate moving to Addis Ababa wants to answer carefully. There is no one size, fits all answer for this question but this article will lay out some important considerations that could be helpful to anyone entertaining the idea of moving to the Ethiopian capital. An equally important question that must also be answered by every expatriate in Addis Ababa is whether one wants to go for a house for rent in Addis Ababa or a rental apartment in Addis Ababa. The article will also touch upon this point. Some of the determining factors that could affect your living conditions in Addis Ababa include your employment benefits package, your place of work, whether you have school-age children or not, or whether you have flexible working hours or not, and your lifestyle.

Budget/Allowance

Your employment benefits package is one of the most crucialdeterminant factors of your living situation in Addis Ababa, if not the most. The truth of the matter is that if your employer does not cover your rent fully or at least partially, life will be a bit tough for you since rental levels in Addis Ababa are quite high. Housing rental levels in Addis Ababa rival the rent one would pay in major world cities such as New York and London, which is quite shocking to newcomers. However, if you are working for an employer that offers great benefits package such as generous housing allowance, you do have a lot of options. You could easily find a luxury villa for rent in Addis Ababa, where your family will feel safe and comfortable. If your preference is to rent an apartment in Addis Ababa, there are great selection of high-end options you can choose from. If your employer is an embassy or one of the UN agencies, you could afford to live in the most affluent neighborhoods of Addis Ababa, namely Bole and Old Airport if you would like. However, if your benefits package does not cover housing, it won’t be easy for you to find an affordable house or apartment for rent in Addis Ababa’s most popular neighborhoods.

Place of Work

If you are an expat moving to Addis Ababa, your place of work is likely to be either in downtown Addis Ababa or at one of the Industrial zones located in the vicinity of Addis Ababa. If you work for an embassy, one of the international development agencies, and global consulting companies and the likes, most of them are concentrated in downtown Addis Ababa, which means that renting a villa in Old Airport or leasing an apartment in Bole might work just fine for you. However, if you work for an industrialist and your work takes you to one of the industrial parks everyday, you are better of staying at the outskirts of Addis, where there are some wonderful gated communities such as Country Club Developers (CCD), Ropack, Ayat, Varnero, Berta, Rosetta, Sunshine, Jackros, and the likes. If you go for an apartment or a house for rent in Old Airport or Bole, the heavy rush hour traffic jam will make your life miserable. The beauty of staying at one of the gated communities at the outskirts of Addis Ababa is that you get great value for your money. The houses are quite modern, have big and well kept yard, and the rent is very reasonable compared to what you would pay if you were to lease a house in Addis Ababa’s most popular zip codes.

School for Children

If you have kids that go to school, you have limited choice on where you can live. The fact that Addis’ traffic jam is getting worse and worse by the day, you would rather rent a house or an apartment as near to the school your kids attend as possible. You or your spouse would rather commute to work than having your kids sit in a vehicle for an hour or more on the way to and back from school. If the school of your choice is the American school known as the International Community School of Addis Ababa (ICS) or Bingham Academy, try to find a house for rent in Old Airport, Tor Hailoch, or as close to it as possible. If your kids attend the French, German, Greek, Italian, Swedish, Sandford,and British International School, try to find a good villa for rent in Bole, Kebena, Aware, Kazanchis, Mesqel Flower, Lancha, Megenagna, Hayahulet, Top View, Bella, Sholla, Ferensay, SidstKilo, Sholla, Arat Kilo, Addisu Gebeya, Piazza and Gergi. If you choose to send your kids to Cambridge Academy or AndinetInternational School, try to get a house for rent in Jackros, Ayat, CMC, Gurd Sholla or Summit.

Working Hours

If you are without kids or you are moving to Addis Ababa without them and your organization has flexible working hours, you can plan your travel time to beat the rush hour traffic jams.This will give you a lot of flexibility in choosing where you want to reside. You do not have to stay in the neighbourhoodsthat are the most popular among expatriates. Why rent a villa in Bole for $5,000 per month when you can lease a much better house in Sunshine or CCD for $2,500 or less?

Lifestyle

If you are someone who is very big on socialising and entertaining friends and co-workers both at home and outside of your house, you would probably want to find a great house for rent in Addis Ababa’s central location such as in Bole and Old Airport. By contrast, if you and your spouse are outdoor peopleand want to come home to fresh air and away from all the hustle and bustle of city life and are not into entertaining a lot of people, you are better of looking for a cozy house for rent in Yeka Hills, around Bella or Ferensay.

In conclusion, the most affluent neighbourhoods of Addis Ababaare largely concentrated at the center of the city and living there is very convenient to get to your office, drop and pick up your kids to and from school and have very active social life. However, rental prices are very high in this neighbourhoods. For example, you will struggle to find a decent house for rent in Old Airport or Bole for less than $3,500 per month. Depending on your housing budget, priorities and lifestyle, there are manyother options that are available to you beyond Bole or Old Airport. Before you start looking for a house for rent in Addis Ababa, spend a little time thinking or enquiring about the different options that are available to you. If living in Bole or Old Airport is your choice, that is absolutely fine but you shouldn’t feel pressured to following suit with most expatriates, who tend to choose to live in or near downtown Addis Ababa.

This article was written by Yirgalem Mengistu of Ethiopian Properties and first appeared on https://www.ethiopianproperties.com/