The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has signed an agreement with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to build a 198-meter (649.6 feet) building for the bank’s headquarters in Ethiopia, expected to be East Africa’s tallest building, WantChinaTimes reports.
A signing ceremony for the 46-storey building was held Tuesday at the bank’s head office in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Bank president Bekalu Zeleke said the bank and the Chinese company were committed to the success of the project because “it reflects the image of both sides.”
“Not only the height, but the overall quality of the building — we believe that this will be one of the best buildings in Africa,” Zeleke said.
The building “will be a new window for your country, for your city, and also for East Africa,” said Song Sudong, general manager of China State Construction, according to a VenturesAfrica report.
The proposed height of the 198-meter building is 25 meters short of the 223-meter-tall Carlton Center, Africa’s tallest building in Johannesburg.
The tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa measures 830 meters (2,723 feet) tall.
The tallest building in the U.S., One World Trade Center, measures 541 meters (1,776 feet) tall.
Some of Africa’s tallest buildings include the following:
Carlton Centre: 732 feet (223 meters), 50 stories, built in 1973 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hassan II Mosque: 690 feet: built in 1993 in Casablanca, Morocco.
Ponte City Apartments: 568 feet, 54 stories, built in 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bahia Center: 528 feet, 31 stories, built in 2008 in Oran, Algeria.
NITEL Building, 520 feet, 32 stories, built in 1979 in Lagos, Nigeria
Marble Towers: 499 feet, 32 stories, built in 1973 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Pearl Dawn: 499 feet, 31 stories, built in 2010 in Durban, South Africa.
South African Reserve Bank Building: 490 feet, 38 stories, built in 2010 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Metlife Centre: 490 feet, 28 stories, built in 1993 in Cape Town, South Africa.
88 on Field: 482 feet, 26 stories, built in 1985 in Durban, South Africa.
– See more at: http://afkinsider.com/95477/east-africas-tallest-building-china-plans-to-build-it/#sthash.wgWNkVir.dpuf
