Gym it for Health, for Socializing

The number of gymnasiums where people exercise has been growing exponentially in Addis Ababa. In the 200/12 fiscal year, only 29 business licenses we issued for gymnasiums – the following year, that figure rose to 103. Currently, there are 305 gyms operating in the city. Health, general well-being, and stress relief appear to be the main reasons why people decide to frequent gyms. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale spoke with gym goers and owners in order to learn about what appears to be a booming fitness sector that shows no signs of slowing down.

For many urbanites in Ethiopia, going to a gym for exercise used to be considered an unusual practice. Recently, however, this trend is changing since going to gym and exercising is becoming as natural as eating or showering.
Nathan Samson, 18, a first year college student was working on the weight lift machine on Monday, May 25, 2015, at Bole Rock Fitness and Health Experience, located in Bole District, next to Harmony Hotel.
“I started exercising here three years ago to put off some extra weight. However, later, after I became fit, I started to enjoy it and decided to exercise more,” Nathan told EBR. ‘‘I also developed a social network with many people here, which makes me to come here more.’’
Nathan says a gym can be a great social hub, especially if a group of friends take part in one or two of the classes together. ‘‘Exercising can be fun if done in the right way and in the right atmosphere,’’ he added.
One reason people go to a rather than working out at home is to avoid working out alone. Gyms provide access to group exercise and can be a way to work out with other people. Experts advise that exercising with a workout partner or group is a good way to stay motivated.
It is not only teenagers like Nathan who visit gyms frequently. People like Tigist Girma, 35, who also goes to Bole Rock Fitness and Health Experience, also frequent gyms in order to stay active and energized: “Everybody, especially working women should go to gyms in order to be fit and engage actively in their work,’’ she says. “I started exercising in gym ten years ago when I was a college student.”
Although people like Nathan and Tigist go to the gym to be fit and active in work environment, Biniam Sewnet, 48 and, a businessman, started to exercise at Kiya Fitness a year ago in order to maintain his diabetics and blood pressures normal. “Now my health is much better and I liked to exercise at the gym very much,” says Biniam. “I should have started it earlier.”
People involved in the business point out that one of the main benefits of coming to a gym is that the people can exercise in a safe environment with fitness experts. One can get a regular weights and exercise review to check progress towards whatever goal initially set.
For these reasons, stakeholders indicate that the number of people joining gyms is rising exponentially. “Currently, Bole Rock Fitness and Health Experience has 10 to 15 new registrants every day,” explains Jerusalem Mamo, marketing manager at Bole Rock.
Running a business under Andinet Trading PLC, which was formed 7 years ago, Bole Rock, currently has more than 1,000 customers. “The gym is always full in the morning and after working hours, says Tadesse Goshu, instructor at Bole Rock. “However, customers come in between also.”
To accommodate this huge demand, more and more gymnasiums are opining in the capital. According to data obtained from the Addis Ababa Trade Bureau, 305 business licenses for gyms were issued within the last three years and nine months. In the 2011/12 fiscal year, only 29 licenses were issued for businesses engaged in gymnasium business. The following fiscal year, this figure jumped to 103, and then 117 in 2013/14. In the past nine months of the current fiscal year, 56 business licenses have been issued by the city administration.
Out of the total 305 gymnasiums, majority good number (104) are found in the Bole District, while the Kirkos, Nifasilk Lafto and Yeka districts have 29 gyms each. The Akaki Kality District comes last with 11 gymnasiums.
“The Bole District takes the lion share because it accommodates most of the business institutions in the capital and most of the high income earning jobs are there,” argues Abel Endeshaw, who is a gym manager both at de Afrique Hotel and Kiya Fitness, and has worked in the business for the last 15 years.
Although Abel believes that the competition among gymnasiums will not likely start soon because of the large potential in the capital, he says that the business is less profitable in other districts, because of the shortage of water, lack of parking lots and high rental prices.
“Due to these factors, I am planning to relocate Kiya Fitness to a more suitable area soon,” he says. Currently, Kiya has 150 customers who pay ETB370 per month. It has six trainers for aerobics and another six who focus largely on training individuals to use the exercise equipment, according to Abel.
“People come to our gym [to improve their] health or to become physically strong,” says Birhan Abera, Gym Manager of Alem Fitness Center, which is owned by Haile and Alem International PLC. According to Birhan, his gym has between 360 and 400 clients, whose age ranges from 22 to 75. While it is cheaper for couples, a person pays ETB850 for 30 days or ETB269 for three days per week.
Birhan says that the fitness sector is promising in Ethiopia and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. The Alem Fitness Center has branches in Megenaga, in Yeka District and around Kazanchis in the Kirkos District, in addition to its three branches outside the capital in Hawassa, Ziway and Shashemene. “Considering the growing demand we have also planned to open four new branches within the coming five years,” says Birhan. EBR