Access Real Estate S.C. Signs a 2 Billion Birr Deal with Dubai Based Soliton Holding Ltd.

Press Release


ADDIS ABABA, APRIL 24, 2012, Access Real Estate S.C. (ARE) today completed comprehensive agreements with Dubai based Soliton Holding Ltd. The agreements will see Soliton investing over the next few years approximately 2 billion Birr into the nascent Ethiopian real estate market. Under the agreement framework, Soliton will begin to provide project management and other technical resources to support ARE’s existing line-up of developments in due course. Supplemental construction capacity is expected to be brought online in the midterm.


Soliton‘s Principals proven expertise in developing real estate across Europe, the Middle East and Asia valued at over USD 30 billion (875 billion Birr) will immediately provide a boost to ARE’s market leadership in the Ethiopian real estate industry and its ability to make expedited progress on the 23 projects in its pipeline of which 12 are currently at varying stages of construction. Soliton’s investment in Ethiopia will represent its initial foothold in Africa which it plans to penetrate further as it believes the continent is one of the most underserved regions by professional real estate development companies. As such, the agreements with ARE will enable it to quickly engage in a representative market which has unmet demand of over half a million units in the Ethiopian capital alone. ARE’s market leading footprint in Ethiopia presents it with the ideal investment opportunity to quickly deploy its considerable resources and produce the kinds of results which will establish a strong launch pad from which to engage in other markets on the continent.

As one of the fastest growing cities in Africa and the third fastest growing economy in the world, Addis Ababa has long presented an ideal location for real estate development. A young real estate industry has not yet been able to address its tremendous housing needs – driven as much by investor purchases as those seeking their own homes – and will likely need even more international investment to start meeting the enormous demand for homes that exist here. In addition to organic population growth and rapid urbanization, Addis Ababa’s status as the political and diplomatic capital of the African continent (Addis Ababa is the 4th largest diplomatic capital in the world after Washington DC, New York and London) has also driven demand for high end real estate to accommodate an increasing influx of expat workers and visitors.

ARE and Soliton’s agreement framework doesn’t just represent an opportunity to make a substantive and lasting impact on addressing the nation’s housing needs. It will also contribute in no small measure to Ethiopia’s economic development as it will represent a sizable FDI inflow and create thousands of jobs in the construction sector. Furthermore, Soliton’s world class expertise in real estate development and construction will be invaluable in helping ARE’s own efforts at capacity building in the sector. Longer term plans to facilitate and invest in the domestic production of construction inputs will also contribute directly to the drive towards industrialization in Ethiopia as called for in the national Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

About Access Real Estate S.C. Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Access Real Estate S.C. was established in February 2008 with a mission of providing “affordable” quality housing in Addis Ababa. Our growing real estate portfolio includes apartments, villas, commercial and office properties located in premier markets of Addis and its surrounding suburbs. We select desirable locations and develop distinctive, high-quality residential villages using ergonomic design that meet our core principles of Value, Style and Location. We create value in real estate through a comprehensive approach to unique design, creative development and construction strategies.

Soliton Holding overview Soliton Holding is a Dubai based company with offices in Hong Kong, UAE, Germany and Africa. The company was founded to focus on five specific areas: Real Estate, Private Equity/ Financial Services, Energy, Healthcare and Trading. Soliton Holding provides on a project by project basis the necessary funding to create a true turnkey solution

The core of Soliton Holding is an elite group of founders, whose purpose is to turn knowledge into value for the benefit of our projects and clients. Our management team has held CEO positions in publicly traded and privately owned companies. The partners have executed jointly projects with a combined value exceeding $US 30 billion.


Contacts
Melaku Sahlu
Chief Operating Officer
Access Real Estate
melaku.sahlu@accessrealestatesc.com