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Business data in Ethiopia. Where the records live.
Africa's second-most-populous country runs its commercial registration through the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration's e-Trade system, launched in 2021 to replace a paper-based process.
What Atlas holds for Ethiopia
Source: the Atlas database, updated automatically.
The official records
Ethiopia's official record of who is trading lives with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MOTRI), which since January 2021 has run registration and licensing through the online e-Trade platform at etrade.gov.et. Every business must hold a commercial registration certificate and a renewable trade licence, and a free business-license checker lets anyone verify a firm's status. Separately, each company takes a Tax Identification Number (TIN) from the revenue authority, and the federal system is mirrored by regional trade bureaus that handle smaller enterprises.
The economy still leans heavily on agriculture: Ethiopia is Africa's largest coffee producer, alongside fast-growing textiles and garments in industrial parks such as Hawassa, plus leather, construction and services concentrated in Addis Ababa.
How to use the register
- Start from the register, not from a bought list. It is the legal record of every company.
- Read the status field. Registers keep closed companies too. See how many have closed in other registers.
- Check the website belongs to the company, with the registration number or a distinguishing name on the page.
Sources
- www.echamber.com
- www.ethiopianchamber.com
- www.nbe.gov.et
- addisfortune.net
- investethiopia.gov.et
- www.thereporterethiopia.com
Descriptions are based on the national sources above. Figures in the text are rounded and change over time. Found an error? Write to atlasforgex@proton.me. More countries: business data by country and registers by country.