Dubai Ethiopia Trade Hits $6.1bn in 2025

Ethiopia’s non-oil trade with Dubai jumped to AED 22.3 billion (around US$6.1 billion) in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 236.6%, underscoring a sharp rise in two-way flows.

Dense deal-making in Addis Ababa

Dubai Chamber of Commerce has wrapped up a trade mission to Ethiopia with a packed schedule of bilateral business meetings between companies from Dubai and Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. The mission centred on the “Dubai–Ethiopia Business Connect” forum, held with the UAE Embassy in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, and the Ethiopian Investment Commission.

The delegation brought representatives from 21 Dubai-based companies spanning sectors including automotive, building materials and construction, electronics, engineering, fast-moving consumer goods, food and beverages, interior design, mining and metals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, printing and packaging, and textiles and ready-made garments. This diversified mix points to a broader strategic push beyond simple merchandise trade, towards supply-chain partnerships and co-investment along production and distribution chains.

H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, said the chamber remains committed to strengthening economic ties between Dubai and Ethiopia and creating new channels for cooperation that unlock partnership opportunities for private sector companies in both markets. The mission, he argued, advances direct dialogue between businesses, supports the global expansion of Dubai-based companies, and contributes to the continued growth of Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade.

The forum gathered senior officials, business leaders and local company representatives, giving Ethiopian firms direct access to Dubai corporates that can provide capital, technology and routes to market. While the Dubai Chamber did not disclose the exact number of one-to-one meetings, the stated objective was a high-density schedule of B2B engagements, designed to turn headline trade growth into concrete commercial deals.

Ethiopia opens to Gulf capital, Dubai offers a gateway

For Ethiopia, the surge in non-oil trade with Dubai and the depth of the delegation underline growing interest from Gulf investors in Africa’s second most populous state. During the forum, Dubai Chamber of Commerce delivered a detailed presentation on Dubai’s business environment, stressing the emirate’s competitive advantages for Ethiopian companies and the opportunity to use Dubai as a launchpad into regional and global markets.

Lalise Getachew, Investment Promotion Advisor to the Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, outlined Ethiopia’s trade and investment landscape, including market entry routes and opportunities for foreign companies and investors. The Ethiopian side used the platform to position the country as open to new manufacturing, logistics and services investments that can link into both regional African demand and Gulf supply chains.

The institutional links are deepening. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, 1,676 Ethiopian companies were registered as active members of Dubai Chamber of Commerce, after 91 new Ethiopian firms joined in Q1 alone. This membership base gives Ethiopian corporates structured access to Dubai’s legal, financial and logistics ecosystem, while offering Dubai-based firms a pool of on-the-ground partners in Ethiopia.

According to the mission’s official readout, Dubai Ethiopia trade is shifting from transactional to strategic, with chambers and investment agencies aligning to support long-term partnerships. Ethiopia is using trade diplomacy with Gulf hubs to attract capital into priority sectors such as manufacturing, consumer goods and infrastructure-linked industries. Dubai is reinforcing its role as a two-way gateway: a route for Ethiopian companies to global markets, and for international investors to reach Ethiopian and wider Horn of Africa opportunities through a familiar regulatory and financing centre.

Investors, corporates and policymakers should now watch for deal flow emerging from these Addis Ababa meetings, including joint ventures, distribution agreements and potential greenfield projects anchored in both markets. The pace and depth of follow-through will determine how far Dubai Ethiopia trade can move from forum commitments to scalable assets over the next 12 to 24 months.

The post Dubai Ethiopia Trade Hits $6.1bn in 2025 appeared first on FurtherAfrica.