UAE-based real estate developer Reportage Group is preparing to enter the Ethiopian market, with the company's Africa chief executive pointing to Addis Ababa's infrastructure development and the country's gradual market opening as key draws for the investment.
Fabrizio Grasso, CEO for Africa at Reportage Group, told the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) in an exclusive interview that the scale and pace of infrastructure development visible across Addis Ababa point to Ethiopia's potential as a continental investment hub.
> "We believe that Ethiopia will become the center of Africa, not only geographically, but as an international hub under many aspects, plus industrial and not only," Grasso said.
Grasso praised the Ethiopian government's efforts to attract foreign investment, telling ENA the country is gradually but quickly opening up to the international market. He said Reportage sees strong potential in Ethiopia's real estate sector specifically.
> "Definitely, the real estate market in Ethiopia is growing very, very quickly, and we want to be part of that," he said.
According to Grasso, Reportage currently operates in eight African countries and is seeking to expand further on the continent, with Ethiopia representing the company's newest target market. The company's entry follows a partnership with the Ethiopian Defense Army Foundation, reached after what Grasso described as extended discussions between the two sides, which paved the way for Reportage's first project in the country.
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Grasso said the company intends to bring green-building practices to its Ethiopian developments, citing prior work in Masdar City in the UAE, and framed the approach as aligned with Ethiopia's Green Legacy initiative — the government's flagship tree-planting and environmental program. He described the company's first Ethiopian project as a landmark moment for Reportage, noting that a debut project in any new country carries particular significance for the firm.
Grasso's comments frame Reportage's planned entry as part of a wider story of Ethiopia opening to foreign capital — a storyline that has featured prominently in the country's economic policy in recent years. But the ENA interview that forms the basis of this report does not detail the specific mechanics of that opening, nor does it address how past foreign investors in Ethiopia's real estate and hospitality sectors have fared once projects moved from announcement to construction.
No independent data on project completion rates, foreign currency access, or regulatory approval timelines for real estate developers in Ethiopia was available for this report. Readers should treat Grasso's characterization of Ethiopia's investment climate as the assessment of a company seeking to enter the market, not as independently verified economic fact. Any assessment of whether currency convertibility, profit repatriation, or import approvals pose the kind of obstacles that have complicated other foreign investment pledges in the sector would require reporting beyond the source material available here.
Reportage's Ethiopia plans have not yet been detailed in terms of project scale, investment value, or completion timeline, and no additional sources have corroborated Grasso's comments beyond the ENA interview. Whether the company's stated ambitions translate into groundbreaking on the ground remains to be seen. For now, Reportage's move is one more data point in Ethiopia's ongoing — and still unfinished — effort to convince global capital that the country's opening to foreign investment is durable. Further reporting will be needed to establish whether the execution risks that have shadowed past foreign real estate pledges in Ethiopia apply to this one.
