How to export medicines and medical devices to Ethiopia

The market in numbers

India and China dominate supply: together they appear on about 76% of import permits (India 38%, China 38%). The rest is spread over 55 other countries, led by Germany, Turkey, Pakistan.

• Medicines: 8,660 permits from 807 importers.
• Medical devices: 7,004 permits from 925 importers.
• Diagnostics & laboratory: 4,245 permits from 534 importers.

Explore the medicines and medical devices market pages, down to each category, product and supplier country, to size your opportunity before you invest in registration.

The five steps to selling in Ethiopia

1. 1

   Pick your products and check demand

   Look up your products on HealthTrade Data: how many importers buy them, from which countries, and whether demand is growing. Prioritise products with many importers and few competing manufacturers.

2. 2

   Appoint a local agent

   EFDA requires foreign manufacturers to act through a local agent or representative physically located in Ethiopia, under a written agency agreement. The agent files your registration and is EFDA's contact for your products.

3. 3

   Register the products with EFDA

   Registration dossiers are submitted online only, through EFDA's eRIS system. Medicines follow EFDA's registration guideline (a CTD-style dossier); medical devices follow a risk-based classification with lighter requirements for low-risk devices. WHO-prequalified medicines can use a faster collaborative procedure.

4. 4

   Sell through licensed importers

   Each shipment needs an EFDA import permit. The Ethiopian importer applies for it in eRIS, uploading your pro-forma invoice; the product must hold a valid registration. Many importers work with several foreign suppliers, so being on their shortlist is what matters.

5. 5

   Grow your share

   Track which importers buy your category, which competitors they use and at what declared prices. Approach the fastest-growing importers first and watch your share per product over time.

How to find the right importers

Old directories and PDF lists name companies but don't show who actually imports your products. Import records do: each one shows the importer, the supplier, the manufacturer and the products.

On HealthTrade Data, every medicine and medical device product and category page shows how many Ethiopian companies import it. The named lists, with volumes, suppliers and declared prices, are in the Supplier plan.