Vehicles burn leaded fuel and most of them are old and unchecked. Car drivers and pedestrians do not often respect traffic rules. In Addis Ababa, garbage is not collected, streets are not cleaned and there are no public bathrooms. There are no adequate sewers and existing ones are in bad shape. Buildings, roads and public squares are not maintained.
Potholes make driving, especially on back roads, difficult.
The number of homeless people and panhandlers has increased greatly in Addis Ababa. The homeless sleep at bus stops, inside cardboard boxes or on sidewalks. Over fifty percent of the homeless are children. There is a widespread hunger in Addis Ababa and the countryside. People talk about incidents of death from hunger.