Ethio Telecom seeks contractors for large HQ complex

Ethio Telecom, the state monopole telecommunication services provider, is seeking grade one contractors for the design and construction of its new seven-building headquarters, on a 37,0000sqm plot of land at the IT Park in Bole District.

According to the tender announcement, published in the state-owned newspaper The Ethiopian Herald, on October 20, 2014, it will comprise of five separate 10-storey buildings, two basements and two separate multi-complexes located behind the five towers.

The structural drawings were completed by local firm BET Consulting Architects & Engineers Plc in August 2014. Currently the company’s headquarters are located on the same compound as the Ethiopian Postal Service head office in Arada District, near the Black Lion Hospital, on Yared Street.

BET, previously worked on the head quarter designs of the Ethiopian Airline in 2010, and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) in 2009.

According to the bid document, participating construction companies should have an annual turnover of 200 million dollars for five consecutive years, with experience in similar construction projects of office buildings. For the design category, local and international bidders are required to have an annual turnover of at least 10 million dollars and 40 million Br, respectively, and be able to demonstrate experience, from the last five years, as prime designers in the construction of at least two building projects costing a minimum of 160 million dollars.

“This tender is especially designed for foreign construction companies and excludes local contractors. The detailed specifications and amount of necessary turnover are very difficult for local contractors to attain,” says an expert working at a local grade one construction company. Officials at Ethio Telecom declined to provide a response to the issue.

Ethio Telecom, formerly called Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), states contractors must directly own 25 dump trucks, 11 excavators, five cranes, 11 loaders and other construction equipment in order to score highly in the technical evaluation.

“Ethio Telecom will be the first company to have this kind of huge headquarters,” commented a contractor.

Participants must submit bid, and a 500,000 Br bid bond, before opening on November 18, 2014, at the current headquarter of the Company.

The bid announcement states the design should be completed within 75 days of the contract being awarded and construction should be completed within two years of construction commencing.


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