Aschelew Tdsse, an ethiopian construction contractor, is looking up at a new 20-story building with pride. The recently completed structure is now home base for the African Union (AU). Tdsse has worked on its construction in Addis Ababa since 2009.
　　“we worked very efficiently and at a fast pace,” he said. “The whole project was running like a Boeing 787 airplane.”Tdsse is just one of many local workers who partnered with the china state construction engineering corp. to get the building site up and running in the ethiopian capital. Despite some early communication issues with chinese colleagues, he noted it was a valuable experience. “I am proud to see African leaders [will be] assembling here.”
　　The new AU headquarters, located just adjacent to its previous address, has both a separate conference center with seating capacity for 2,505 and another sub-conference building with 31 meeting rooms. The total area of the complex is 112,000 square meters.
　　At 99.9 meters high, the main building commemorates the AU’s founding date of september 9, 1999, signifying the rise of the African continent.
　　Investment in the headquarters construction totaled 800 million yuan($123.7 million). It marks the biggest chinese aid project in Africa since the Tanzam Railway was built in the 1970s.
　　“It’s a new milestone in the development of sino-African relations,” said Ambassador John Kayode shinkaiye. he is chief of staff to the Bureau of the chairperson at the AU commission.
　　with 54 member states, the AU plays an important role in conflict mediation and maintaining regional security. Yet, it has operated without a permanent base for a long time.The new headquarters are meant to remedy this situation.
　　Project challenges
　　The complex’s construction was one of the eight measures promised by chinese President hu Jintao during the Beijing summit of the Forum on china-Africa cooperation (FOcAc) held in Beijing in 2006. The aid project was meant to demonstrate china’s support for African unity and integration.
　　This promise, in turn, brought more pressures on the china state construction engineering corp., which was in charge of the project. with its new responsibilities, the firm had to adhere to higher quality standards.
　　“It’s both a national mission and an honor for our company,” said song sudong, who oversaw the company’s china Technical Team of senior engineers. “For me personally, I feel I shoulder a heavy responsibility in terms of the scale, the complexity and the design of the project, as well as the people involved. But I like challenges.”
　　The headquarters’ multi-arc design created difficulties during the construction. It required precise dimensions, and the materials were special-customized and ordered after careful calculation in china. They were installed on-site after being shipped. Good planning was key, since it took months for materials to be delivered by sea and land transport.
　　Unfortunately, efficient timetables can’t save everything. late last March, two containers of glass were damaged in a traffic accident as they were being transported from a port in Djibouti to Addis Ababa. “It took four to six months from product processing and inspection for a shipment to arriving at the port, [so] it was an urgent situation,”recalled song. “we re-customized the glass in chinese factories and shipped them back to Addis Ababa by air. luckily the glass arrived just in time, and we finished the exterior construction work before the rainy season [began]. The costs certainly increased, but to guarantee smooth construction we had to do it this way.”
　　Building commenced in the summer of 2009 and was completed at the end of 2011. During the two and a half years of construction, the team experienced three rainy seasons-equivalent to almost a full year of rain in total. song had to adjust the workflow on-site accordingly.
　　“To pave the [complex’s] square during the rainy season, we did the concrete hardening in advance,” he said. “The cost increased, but we saved time on landscaping work.” workers still had to pave the 20,000-square-meter granite square in the rain, and song was quite touched by their efforts.
　　Creating precedents
　　More than anything, the chinese Government wanted the project to run smoothly. Drawing on six decades of foreign aid experience, it was decided that the Ministry of commerce would send a special full-time councilor to oversee the construction. his name was Zeng huacheng.
　　As the first government representative in china’s foreign aid history, Zeng worked day and night at the AU site. he’s only in his 40s, but his hair is fully gray. he chalked it up to completing the highquality aid project. “we created a lot of precedents,” he said. he has been involved in aid work for 20 years.
　　The first of these precedents is a sample sealing mechanism, which dictates that equipment and materials are only sealed after all parties confirm their satisfaction. This include the designer, construction contractor, supervising manager, and the owner. “This is what we learned from other industries,” said Zeng. “we took this approach to control the quality of the building from the very beginning.”
　　Visiting product manufacturers is another innovation. “For some products, sealing samples doesn’t guarantee good quality,”Zeng explained. “so, we visited factories and inspected their production lines, production capacity, technology and reputation. Then we chose the best ones.” The project’s door suppliers went through this scrutiny.
　　showrooms were created for several areas of the complex. “The relevant staff from the [chinese and African] sides met at the showrooms, making sure the design, style and materials met the standards,” he said.
　　African participation was prioritized, according to shinkaiye.“The chinese side gave us the drawings at the very beginning,” he said. “we discussed various aspects of the project with chinese officials. wherever any changes needed to be made, we gave them our suggestions. we also selected the furniture together. From the very beginning to the very end, we worked hand-in-hand.”
　　For Zeng, the arrangement was logical. “Because of differences in culture and aesthetics, we must respect their choices,” he said. “They are the users.”
　　when it came to materials, Zeng said, if the chinese products met international standards, those were the ones used. If not, foreign equivalents were brought in - as was the case with decorative stones imported from spain.
　　The complex also features environmentally-friendly design concepts and energy-saving technology. The AU is an active participant in the United Nations climate change conference, and it’s hoped the headquarters will be model of clean energy and energy efficiency.
　　“Most of the offices are not equipped with air conditioners since the structure was designed to reduce direct exposure to ultraviolet rays,”said Zeng. Other green utilities like drip irrigation and solar lighting are also part of the set-up.
　　Maintenance is a priority in aid projects, and the chinese were prepared for this.
　　The AU conference center is equipped with hi-tech integrated systems for sound and lighting. The outfit is very high-end, even though this has been a problematic choice in the past.
　　“we used the best quality products, so that they won’t be easily damaged,” explained Zeng. “During the installation we had the African technical staff join so that they could understand how [the set-up] is installed and operated. This is what we hadn’t done before on previous aid projects.”
　　There will be a two-year transitional period once the headquarters opens its doors. The current 30-member chinese technical groups will start training African staff on-site. “If it’s needed, we will organize trips for the African technical staff to visit chinese manufacturers,”said Zeng. “we want to ensure the conference center runs smoothly.”
　　The headquarters has yet to encounter any problems. An initial quality inspection and visit by AU commission members both went smoothly.
　　“The speed of the project construction and its quality are really incredible!” exclaimed erastus Mwencha, who is the commission’s deputy chairperson. “The new headquarters is a symbol of our friendship and cooperation.”
　　still, noted shinkaiye, “the completion of the project doesn’t mean the end of our cooperation. we hope the chinese will continue to collaborate with us to make the headquarters fully[operational].”