Access Real Estate founder and chairman, Ermias Amelga, returned back to Ethiopia exactly after two years on Thursday, February 19, 2015.
Ermias, a west educated investment banker turned real estate developer, left Ethiopia after spending a night in jail for being accused of writing a bad cheque.
According to The Reporter, he has been dealing with government officials in order to secure a risk – free return. Finally, the government agreed to give Ermais legal protection – officially signed from the Ministry of Justice – and that he would not be incarcerated upon his return.
The government requested Ermias to fix the loose ends faced by his company which was established between five shareholders and 50,000 registered capital. Access is expected to finish and deliver houses to homebuyers.
Access took money from more than 2,000 homebuyers yet it failed to keep ots promise of building and delivering houses to home buyers.
According to the newspaper, Ermias will be expected to the problem face furious homebuyers who went as far as filing criminal charges against him.
Almost a year ago, the office of the Prime Minister decided to establish a committee chaired by kebede Chanie, Minister for Trade, in a quest for lasting solution for the problems. The committee also includes Mekuria Haile, Assefa Beyu, and representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Document Authentication and Registration Office, the Addis Ababa City Administration's Land Management Bureau and the home buyers' committee.
During the formation of the real estate firm, Ermias brought onboard Access Capital Services SC, a private equity firm where Ermias owns a major share.
Five years after the company’s establishment and three years after it went operational, Access failed to deliver a single unit from any of the 19 sites it claimed to have been developing.
It was in 1996 that Ermias came to Ethiopia after spending eight years of undergraduate and graduate academic training. He also took another 12 years in investment banking in the US. Upon his return he was one of the leading members of the initiative to establish the Addis Ababa Stock Exchange.
He was also a pioneer in starting the first bottled water company in Ethiopia, Highland Springs.
Source: The Reporter
