Ethiopia loses up to $1 billion annually in foreign currency as citizens seek medical care abroad, from routine check-ups to advanced heart and cancer surgeries in cities like Bangkok, New Delhi and Istanbul. The opening this week of Haberi Medical Plaza in Addis Ababa signals a new push to reverse this trend by harnessing the country’s growing pool of specialists and modern technology.
Health Minister Dr. Mekdes Daba, who officiated the inauguration, stressed that Ethiopia’s ambitious health strategies and specialist training roadmaps will remain mere blueprints without practical implementation. “We’ve designed policy frameworks to improve service quality and expand access,” she said. “But success depends on private facilities like Haberi entering at scale with the right quality and technology.” [conversation context]
Dr. Mekdes noted that the number of specialists in Ethiopia has doubled or tripled over the past seven years, yet patients still struggle to access them efficiently. “Haberi Medical Plaza answers this by connecting practitioners and patients under one roof,” she said, describing such centres as key to easing the government’s burden and delivering policies on the ground.
Built at a cost exceeding 500 million birr, the plaza is no ordinary clinic but a specialized outpatient hub consolidating 15 medical fields into a single facility. Its founder, Dr. Akeze Taeme, said the centre targets Ethiopia’s “terrible” medical atmosphere — not fear of treatment itself, but frustration with fragmented services and unwelcoming environments that drive patients overseas.
“Addis Ababa, as a hub of international diplomacy and tourism, needed a facility worthy of the city,” Dr. Akeze told the opening ceremony. Haberi offers one-stop services, sparing patients the need to shuttle between specialists, and includes six fully ambulatory departments designed to handle complex diagnostics and care without foreign referrals.
The plaza also pioneers digital health through its HaberiDoc app, positioning it among Africa’s most advanced platforms. The app has already secured partnerships with four African countries, showcasing Ethiopia’s technological edge regionally and supporting ambitions to become a medical tourism destination.
Complementing this, Ethiopian Airlines has rolled out a system allowing transit passengers to undergo full health check-ups during layovers, with digital results delivered seamlessly. Officials see Haberi as a cornerstone in this vision, blending world-class infrastructure, local expertise and smart logistics to keep more healthcare dollars and talent at home.
Dr. Mekdes called on other private investors to follow suit, warning that translating policy ambition into accessible care remains “time-consuming” without such partnerships. “The private sector’s investment and innovation will accelerate what government alone cannot achieve,” she concluded.
