Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission Zeleke Temesgen (first from left), ApexBrasil President Laudemir Müller (second from left), George Maha(middle), Director-General for Europe and the Americas at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Meles Alem (second from right) and Brazilian Ambassador to Ethiopia Jandyr Ferreira dos Santos (first from right) pose for a photo in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Credit: Brasil 247

The president of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), Laudemir André Müller, officially inaugurated the agency's permanent office for Africa at a ceremony held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 2. The creation of the office, headquartered in Addis Ababa, follows a proposal by the Ethiopian Investment Commission formalized after ApexBrasil's business mission to Ethiopia in February 2026, according to Brasil 247. The new office aims to consolidate the results of the mission and provide a permanent platform for expanding trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, East Africa and the continent as a whole, making use of Ethiopia's geostrategic position. International relations specialist George Okechukwu Maha, a career official at ApexBrasil with extensive knowledge of the African continent, will serve as the agency's representative for Africa.

The initiative follows a high-level rapprochement: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Ethiopia in 2024, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Brazil in 2025. Despite these close ties and a combined population of more than 300 million people, trade and investment flows between the two countries remain modest compared with their potential.

Addis Ababa is home to the headquarters of the African Union and has established itself as one of the continent's main diplomatic and political centers. Ethiopia, with about 135 million inhabitants, is Africa's second-most populous country and one of the most important economies in East Africa. In this context, the Ethiopian market offers growing opportunities for Brazilian products, especially in machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, construction materials, food and manufactured goods. ApexBrasil's Opportunity Map identified 59 export opportunities in the country, in addition to a sectoral project focused on sugarcane ethanol.

Despite this diversification potential, Brazil's export basket to Ethiopia remains highly concentrated. Currently, 97.4 percent of Brazilian exports to the country consist of fuel oils derived from petroleum or bituminous minerals, excluding crude oils, according to ApexBrasil data. Brazil nevertheless maintains a considerable trade surplus with Ethiopia.

The inauguration of the office concluded ApexBrasil's broader mission to the African continent, which in recent weeks also visited Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique as part of an agenda to strengthen cooperation with these countries and diversify Brazil's export basket to Southern Africa. With the new office, the agency's projection is even broader, covering the entire continent. This is particularly relevant amid the global trade fragmentation caused by the unilateral tariff measures imposed by the US against Brazil and follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's policy of deepening relations with the African continent as a whole.

(Reported by Brasil 247 on September 3, 2026)