Ethiopia has allocated an additional piece of land for free to Namibia to construct an ambassadorial residence in the capital, Addis Ababa.

However, no development has taken place on the plot so far.

The Namibian Embassy is currently in talks to start the construction.

Ethiopian authorities started allocating land to all African countries with embassies and the African Union in 2004 to construct diplomatic missions and residences.

This is Namibia's two-thousand-square-meter plot, which stood idle for years, located just next to the one of Niger in a residential area predominantly inhabited by foreign diplomats.

The technical process, including the transfer of ownership and registration of title deeds, dragged on for years with the Addis Ababa city local authorities.

Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs got involved and fast-tracked the process two years ago.

The Embassy is planning to start construction on the diplomatic residence now that renovations at the mission itself are complete.

Much to the relief of state coffers, Ambassador Emilia Mkusa says the construction would not require additional funding from the fiscus.

The construction of the house for the head of mission is expected to save the government more than N$148,800 in rental fees per month.