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Doing business & staying in touch

Businesspeople should wear suits and ties for business visits. English is widely used for trade purposes but Italian and French are also useful. Nonetheless, knowledge of a few words of Amharic will be appreciated. Some of the more useful are Tena Yistillign - 'Hello'; Ow - 'Yes'; Aydellem - 'No'; and Sintinew - 'How much is this?'. Normal courtesies should be observed and business cards can be used. Best months for business visits are October to May.

Office hours: 

Mon-Thurs 0830-1230 and 1330-1730; Fri 0830-1130 and 1330-1730.

Economy: 

Ethiopia is one of the world's least developed countries, with low incomes, minimal infrastructure and a serious shortage of skilled labour. Economic development has also been hampered by war. The economy is largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, which employs almost 85% of the workforce, and accounts for half the country's GDP.

Growth has been seriously affected by the fall in agriculture production due to the droughts in 2002 and 2003. However, sound macroeconomic policies and HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Country) debt relief, coupled with improved rains and harvest in 2004 helped agricultural production and economic growth. Coffee is the main export earner, and the collapse of world coffee prices hit Ethiopia hard.

Not surprisingly, Ethiopia relies on substantial quantities of food aid. The manufacturing and service sectors are both small. However, there is a bright prospect in the form of a large natural gas field, which promises substantial future revenues.

GDP: 

US$25.08 billion (2008).

Main exports: 

Coffee, qat, gold, leather products and oilseeds.

Main imports: 

Food, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and textiles.

Main trading partners: 

Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, USA, China and Italy.

Mobile phone: 

Roaming agreements exist with many international mobile phone companies. Coverage is patchy and largely confined to major urban areas.

Internet: 

There are Internet cafes in Addis Ababa. Some top-end hotels may also offer services, although connections may be difficult. Service is rapidly improving as demand soars.

Post: 

Service to and from Europe takes up to two weeks.

Post office hours: 

Mon-Fri 0800-1600; Sat 0800-1200.

Media: 

Although the state controls radio and television, the print and broadcast media have seen positive changes since the overthrow of the dictator Mengistu. Deregulation has been on the cards for some years.

Licence application forms were given to would-be private radio broadcasters in 2004 and in 2006 two private FM stations were awarded licences. Some opposition groups beam radio broadcasts from overseas using shortwave transmitters.

The number of privately-owned newspapers has increased. The relationship between the press and the authorities has sometimes been difficult, especially after the violent protests that followed the 2005 elections. The English-language state-owned daily is The Ethiopian Herald.

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