Common questions
What investors actually ask.
The questions that come up in almost every first call, answered plainly. Where a rule can change, we say so rather than quoting a number that may already be stale.
- 01Can a foreign company own a business in Ethiopia outright?
- In most sectors yes, through a locally registered entity. A number of sectors are reserved or require a domestic partner, and the reserved list is the first thing to check — not the last — because it determines the entity structure and therefore everything that follows.
- 02How long does registration actually take?
- The paperwork is not usually the constraint. Sequencing is: an investment permit, commercial registration, a business licence, tax registration and a bank account each depend on the one before it, and doing them in the wrong order is what turns weeks into months.
- 03Is there a minimum capital requirement?
- Yes, and it varies by sector and by whether you have a domestic partner. Consulting and engineering services sit at a lower threshold than a single-project investment. Confirm the current figure before you budget — it is set by regulation and it moves.
- 04Do I need to be in Ethiopia to set the company up?
- Not for the whole process, but someone has to be. Several steps require physical presence or a properly executed power of attorney. In practice a foreign investor either travels for a short window or appoints a local representative for the duration.
- 05How do I get money in — and out?
- Capital in should be registered with the National Bank at the time it arrives; that registration is what makes profit repatriation possible later. Foreign-exchange availability is a real constraint on operations and should be modelled, not assumed.
- 06What does hiring look like?
- Labour is available and comparatively inexpensive; the administration is where foreign employers are surprised. Written contracts, probation rules, notice periods, mandatory contributions and termination process all follow Ethiopian labour law and none of them resemble a European default.
- 07How do foreign firms actually win public tenders?
- Eligibility is decided before the notice appears, not at the deadline. Registration, prequalification and — for most public work — a local partner arrangement have to already exist. Firms that start when they see the tender have usually already lost it.
- 08Are the tenders on this site the complete picture?
- No, and we say so. We publish what we can verify from the World Bank, the UN system and the Ethiopian procurement bodies, reviewed by hand. Some Ethiopian portals are unreliable or block automated access, so the desk is a curated view rather than an exhaustive register.
- 09What does ETGS actually do — advise, or execute?
- Both, and that is the point. Most firms do one or the other, which leaves the client holding the gap between a strategy and the people who have to carry it out. We take a single point of accountability across the two.
- 10What does it cost?
- There is no price list, because there is no standard engagement. Scope follows the conversation: what you are trying to do, on what timeline, and how much of it you want to run yourself. The twenty-minute call is free and is usually enough to tell us both whether it is worth continuing.
Ask usdirectlyTwenty minutes, and you get a straight answer about your own case.