For any business desiring to get registered in Ethiopia, it has become easier to do so. The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade & Industry is launching a new online portal, Online Trade Registration & Licensing Service (OTRLS), which will allow businesses to apply for new licenses and renewal online. This development will drastically reduce the number of days it takes to formerly register a business in Ethiopia from 32 to six.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• By logging into the virtual system, clients can obtain information on the requirements for renewing and issuing a particular type of business license from anywhere in the country and beyond. 
• Once logged in, an individual can fill out the appropriate forms, attach scanned copies of supporting documents such as a Tax Identification Number (TIN) and process their license.
• The system, initially installed in 2012 by local firm Custor Computing for one million Birr, did not originally provide online access to clients. Businesses had to be present at the Ministry to process their documents physically.
• To upgrade the system, the Ministry floated a tender in 2018, and Custor Computing Plc won the bid for eight million Birr, which was covered by the Ministry. Custor was established in 1993 and provides web-based public service delivery solutions, system development, infrastructure design consulting and IBM enterprise solutions.

• Development of the system took one year to finalise.
• Under the current updated system, businesses can apply online for registration and license renewal, and they do not have to visit the premises of the Ministry and the regional trade bureaus to pick up the hard copies of their permits.

“Anyone can print the hard copy of their permits from the system,” said Eshete Asfaw, state minister for Trade & Industry. “The upgraded system will save customers time, money and energy, and it relieves the workload of our staff compared to the old manual system.”

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• The reform was made as part of the latest initiative from the Office of the Prime Minister to ease the requirements of doing business in the country. Ethiopia ranked 159th out of 190 nations in the World Bank’s 2019 Ease of Doing Business report. Though far behind many other African nations, this was an improvement of two positions from the previous year.
• The mandatory requirement to obtain a business license, which includes newspaper publication of trade names and a lease or rental agreement, was also lifted by the Ministry a few months ago.
• The online registration system has 19 different services. The services are provided through 1,063 offices, out of which 163 are already operational throughout the country.
• The system also integrates the Ministry of Revenues, the Document Authentication & Registration Agency and the Ethiopian Investment Commission to shorten the customer journey when processing licenses, according to Eshete.
• The Commercial Registration & Business Licensing Proclamation was amended in 2016, adding a new feature to the business sphere of the country. It introduced the concepts of the franchise and holding company arrangements, new to the business environment in Ethiopia.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world