Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Africa |
| ISO 3166-1 | ET / ETH |
| Registry | MoTRI (Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-04 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Ethiopia and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | TIN | Ministry of Revenue (MoR) |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Registration number | MoTRI (Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration) |
Sector regulators
NBE · ECMA
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sole Proprietorship | — | A single natural person trading under their own name or a registered trade name, with no separate legal personality and unlimited personal liability. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| General Partnership | GP | Two or more persons carrying on a commercial business under a firm name, each partner bearing joint and unlimited liability for the partnership’s obligations. Equivalent to a US General Partnership. |
| Limited Partnership | LP | A partnership with at least one general partner bearing unlimited liability and one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their capital contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| Limited Liability Partnership | LLP | Introduced by the 2021 Commercial Code; reserved for licensed professionals (lawyers, auditors, architects). Partners are shielded from each other’s negligence but the firm has no share capital. Equivalent to a US LLP. |
| One-Person Private Limited Company | — | Introduced by the 2021 Commercial Code; a single natural or juridical person may form a limited-liability company with full corporate-veil protection and no share capital. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC. |
| Private Limited Company | PLC | The most common SME vehicle; 2–50 members hold non-transferable quota interests, and no member is personally liable beyond their contribution. Equivalent to a US multi-member LLC. |
| Share Company | SC | A company whose capital is divided into freely transferable shares; requires a minimum of five shareholders and a board of directors, and may make public offerings. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Cooperative Society | — | An autonomous, member-controlled enterprise organised under cooperative law (distinct from the Commercial Code), with democratic governance and limited liability for members. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Branch Office | — | An extension of a foreign company registered with MoTRI to conduct business in Ethiopia; has no separate legal personality from its parent. Closest US equivalent: foreign Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Certificate of Registration |
| Constitutive Documents | Memorandum & Articles of Association |
| Tax Registration | TIN Certificate |
| Operating Permit | Any one of: Trade License · Business License |
| Ownership Records | All required: Memorandum of Association + Annual Return |
| Governance Records | All required: Memorandum of Association + Manager Registration |
| Signing Authority | Board Resolution |
| Address | Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Registration (Ministry of Trade) | Legal Registration |
| Memorandum & Articles of Association | Constitutive Documents |
| TIN Certificate | Tax Registration |
| Trade License | Operating Permit |
| Business License | Operating Permit |
| MoA | Ownership Records, Governance Records |
| Annual Return | Ownership Records |
| Manager Registration | Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| Lease Agreement | Address |
| Utility Bill (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Bank Statement (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | NBE, ECMA — Ethiopian Capital Markets Authority |
Collection notes
- Address: Lease (no time bound) or utility bill or bank statement dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Director/Manager | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Management authority. |