The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) has officially inaugurated its first permanent office in Addis Ababa. The launch coincides with the conclusion of ApexBrasil’s comprehensive Southern Africa trade mission—running from August 26 to September 2—underscoring Brazil’s strategic commitment to expanding its institutional footprint on the African continent and leveraging the BRICS platform to foster tangible trade and investment opportunities.
This milestone stems from high-level diplomatic exchanges, building on agreements forged during Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s official visit to Brazil and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s historic trip to Ethiopia in February 2024.
Ambassador Meles Alem, Director General for European and American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that the new office will elevate bilateral commercial ties to unprecedented levels. Both nations continue to use the BRICS platform as a vital catalyst for South-South cooperation, focusing on knowledge transfer, innovation, and mutual growth.
Brazilian Ambassador to Ethiopia Jandir Ferreira dos Santos noted that the office creates a permanent platform for Brazilian companies to navigate the local market, identify regional partners, and access vital market intelligence. This builds on the February 2026 Ethiopia-Brazil Economic Cooperation Forum, co-hosted by ApexBrasil and the Ethiopian Investment Commission, which yielded over 300 business-to-business matchmaking sessions and a strategic Memorandum of Understanding.
The Addis Ababa branch will prioritize several high-growth industries, including agribusiness value addition, industrial manufacturing, green energy, logistics, and technology transfer.
The opening follows Ethiopia’s April 2026 regulatory authorization permitting a broad range of Brazilian animal products—such as beef, pork, poultry, and dairy—alongside specialized agricultural inputs like animal genetics.
Despite these collaborative strides, bilateral trade remains in its developmental stages. Brazilian exports to Ethiopia totaled roughly $31 million in 2025, with petroleum oils making up 97.4 percent of shipments. However, with Ethiopia’s total imports reaching approximately $8.9 billion in 2024, officials see vast room for diversification. ApexBrasil has already identified 59 distinct export opportunities for Brazilian enterprises in Ethiopia, spanning construction materials, chemical products, and sugarcane ethanol operations.
Conversely, the local office will also assist Ethiopian investors and business leaders looking to access Latin America’s largest market. This commercial expansion occurs against a backdrop of strong macroeconomic forecasts, with Ethiopia’s economy projected to expand at an average of 8.3 percent annually from 2026 through 2030, driven by ongoing internal reforms and foreign investment.
Following its official entry into the BRICS bloc in January 2024, Ethiopia continues to deepen its integration into multilateral financial architectures. Demonstrating this rising momentum, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers unanimously approved a draft proclamation in June 2026 for the country to join the Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB), further solidifying a shared commitment to sustainable economic transformation, multilateral cooperation, and long-term mutual prosperity across the Global South.
