Ethiopia Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify an Ethiopia Business

TL;DR. Ethiopia’s trade registration system is operated by the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MOTI) through e-Trade. http://etrade.gov.et is online, titled e-Trade Online Trade Registration & License System. https://etrade.gov.et did not respond when last checked, and neither did https://www.motri.gov.et. No search form, license-checker screen or birr tariff was read from the e-Trade home, so fees here read unknown rather than free; confirm at source. The FATF Ethiopia country page is online; Ethiopia’s current listing was not read for this guide. This page does not prescribe enhanced due diligence.

What is the official Ethiopia business registry?

Ethiopia’s commercial registration and licensing system is administered by the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MOTI). The live address this guide uses is http://etrade.gov.et, titled e-Trade Online Trade Registration & License System. https://etrade.gov.et did not respond, and no replacement encrypted address is named here.

https://www.motri.gov.et did not respond when last checked. MOTI remains the named operator; that host is not a reachable public site, and no successor MOTI address is named.

The Commercial Registration and Business Licensing Proclamation has been reported as the statutory basis; confirm at source. All businesses operating in Ethiopia have been described as needing a commercial registration certificate and a business license from MOTI or a regional trade bureau. Foreign-invested companies have been described as also registering with the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC). The EIC host was not checked for this guide.

What can you search?

The live title names an Online Trade Registration & License System. Search fields, a public license checker, and result columns were not read from that page, so they are not documented here; confirm at source.

This guide does not name a deeper search path than the e-Trade home. Historic copy that a license checker returns trade name, license number, status, activity category and issuing authority is not restated as a screen this page could read.

How much does it cost?

No birr extract figures appear on the e-Trade home title, so the table reads unknown rather than free; confirm at source. Fees by category, capital and activity type have been reported as set by MOTI regulations; confirm at source. No payment methods are published on the live title.

Do you need a local account or ID?

Unknown from that page. The live title is the system name, not a login title, so an account and a local ID are shown as optional rather than confirmed open access. Email registration, EIC investment-license sequencing and TIN rules have been reported; confirm at source.

Is the website in English?

Partial. The live title e-Trade Online Trade Registration & License System is English. Amharic content, Ge’ez-script names and bilingual certificates have been reported; confirm at source. The MOTI site could not be read, because that host did not respond.

What’s the turnaround time?

Unknown. No turnaround is published on the e-Trade home title; confirm at source. Historic claims of same-session registration for straightforward cases are not restated as a live figure.

Is there an API?

No. No developer API is published on the e-Trade home title.

What you legally cannot do

Unauthorized bulk automated access has been reported as restricted by the platform terms; confirm at source. Ethiopia’s Personal Data Protection Proclamation (Proclamation No. 1321/2024) has been reported as governing personal data in commercial registration records; confirm at source. The Commercial Code and AML Proclamation No. 1176/2020 have been reported as further frames. This page does not prescribe a screening workflow.

For the broader due-diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• http://etrade.gov.et is the live address. It is titled e-Trade Online Trade Registration & License System. The HTTPS apex did not respond; this guide does not name a successor HTTPS URL.
• motri.gov.et did not respond. MOTI is still the named operator. No replacement ministry address is named here.
• No birr tariff is published on the live title; confirm at source.
• Federal versus regional registration has been reported as a real split (MOTI versus regional trade bureaus). That split was not labelled on the home title; confirm at source.
• The Ethiopian Investment Commission host was not checked for this guide and is not a replacement for e-Trade.
• FATF listing was not read here. The FATF Ethiopia country page is online; confirm at source. This page does not prescribe enhanced due diligence.

Alternatives if you cannot access e-Trade directly

• There is no HTTPS replacement on the evidence used here. Use http://etrade.gov.et when that host is reachable.
• Aggregator search (indicative only): OpenCorporates coverage has been reported as sparse; that host was not checked for this guide.
• Ethiopian Investment Commission and Addis Ababa City Administration Trade Bureau were not checked for this guide.

Local data suppliers

No commercial credit bureau covering Ethiopia company data was checked for this guide. Named none.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Ethiopia registry directly?

http://etrade.gov.et is reachable. Whether a search, an account wall or a document order sits behind that title was not read from the page; confirm at source. The HTTPS apex did not respond.

What is the primary company identifier in Ethiopia?

Commercial registration numbers issued through MOTI have been reported as the primary identifier, with a separate EIC investment-license number for foreign-invested entities. Those formats were not labelled on the e-Trade home title; confirm at source.

What entity types are registered with MOTI?

Historic forms include private limited companies, public limited companies, sole proprietors, partnerships, foreign-company branches and representative offices. Cooperatives and NGOs have been reported as separate frameworks. That list was not enumerated on the e-Trade home title; confirm at source.

Does Ethiopia have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

No beneficial-ownership search was read from the e-Trade home. A central public UBO register equivalent to EU registers is not documented here; confirm at source. The Financial Intelligence Center host was not checked for this guide.

How current is the data in e-Trade?

Not published on the e-Trade home title; confirm at source.

Is Ethiopia on the FATF grey list?

Ethiopia’s current listing is not stated here. The FATF Ethiopia country page is online; see it for the published record. This page does not prescribe enhanced due diligence.

What is the difference between MOTI and the EIC?

MOTI has been reported as handling commercial registration and trade licensing. The Ethiopian Investment Commission has been reported as handling investment licensing for foreign investors. The EIC host was not checked for this guide. e-Trade is the live MOTI registration system named in this guide.

Last verified: 2026-09-06. Sources: http://etrade.gov.et, titled e-Trade Online Trade Registration & License System; https://etrade.gov.et and www.motri.gov.et, which did not respond; fatf-gafi.org and the FATF Ethiopia country page, both online. No birr search tariff is published on the live e-Trade title. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.