Practice Area
Foreign Investment & Business Setup
Ethiopia rewards investors who enter correctly and punishes shortcuts. We manage the legal path end to end — from choosing the right vehicle to the day your investment permit is issued.
Under the Investment Proclamation No. 1180/2020 and its regulations, most sectors are open to foreign capital — but the ones that are reserved, the minimum-capital thresholds, and the documentation requirements of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) trip up even experienced investors. We have walked clients through the process enough times to know where files stall and how to keep them moving.
How we help
- Sector eligibility analysis: what a foreign investor may own outright, in joint venture, or not at all
- Investment permit applications before the Ethiopian Investment Commission
- Incorporation of foreign-owned PLCs, branch offices and representative offices
- Joint-venture structuring with Ethiopian partners, including control and exit protections
- Capital registration with the National Bank of Ethiopia to preserve repatriation rights
- Work permits, residence IDs and expatriate quota compliance for foreign staff
Capital in, profits out
The step investors most often miss is registering inbound capital with the National Bank of Ethiopia at the time of investment. Skip it, and repatriating dividends or sale proceeds later becomes painful. We build the foreign-exchange paperwork into the setup plan from day one, not as an afterthought.
Who we act for
Manufacturers, agro-processors, tech companies, hospitality groups and diaspora investors establishing their first Ethiopian presence — as well as existing investors expanding or restructuring.