Addis Merkato:
The Indigenous Market Center

John Bolton of The Salt Lake Roasting Company is one of hundreds of businessmen each year who pass through the markets of Addis Ababa in search of the perfect bean. Here, he comments on his first impressions of Adds Ababa and the Addis Merkato:

I woke at 5 :00 am and went to the Saturday market in Addis Ababa. This is a huge setting where they sell everything imaginable. Because we were early, the hordes of people hadn't arrived yet though it was still busy. Since the streets were crowded, everything was carried in to sell, and often times it had to be carried for several blocks. I witnessed many ten year old's carrying baskets on their heads, laden with melons or tomatoes. These baskets easily weighed twice as much as their porters. I think the spices I saw were probably the most interesting items at the market. Also, the flavored butters and cheeses revealed the diverse tastes and unique heritage that is north east Africa.

Read Bolton's complete article, Coffee Without Compromise

The market Bolton refers to is the Addis Merkato (New Market), the largest market center of Ethiopia. Located half a mile west of the Arada in the Addis Ketema district (see map), the Merkato is the commercial core of the city and covers an area of several square miles. Addis Merkato is a trade and retail center of incomparable dimension in the region. Over 13,000 employees, working for 7,100 business entities, including some 2,500 retail shops, most in open stalls, operate the Merkato each day (Area Handbook 408). The Merkato is also home to 1500 service businesses and 80 wholesale operations in a dense sector of narrow streets and alleyways (Area Handbook 408).

Today the Merkato serves as a kind of inland port for central Ethiopia. It is a key exchange point for grains, pulse, oilseeds, vegetables and animals and an assembly and distribution center for imports. In addition, much of the agricultural product of southern Ethiopia is shipped through the Merkato before it is exported via the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway (Area Handbook 40). The primary export of Ethiopia and Addis Ababa is coffee, a product which has its own market within the Addis Merkato. During busy parts of the year, a 'coffee auction' is held daily y with nearly 100 growers offering 150 varieties of bean on one side of market and 40 anxious international coffee buyers on the other side (Bolton).

What makes the Addis Merkato unique is its history as a center for indigenous trade. The original market center of the fledgling capital, was located in central Addis Ababa across from the St. George Church and thus was dubbed the St. George Merkato (Area Handbook 407). Shortly after the turn of the century, St. George Merkato, operated only on Thursdays and Fridays by Arab merchants, displaced the nearby Entotto Market as the regional retail and distribution center (Area Handbook 407).

As part of their citywide segregation scheme, the Italian occupational government reserved the St. George Market for foreigners and Italians only. The Italians allotted several parcels of land a half-mile west of St. George Market for a 'new Ethiopian Market' which developed into the Addis Merkato (Area Handbook 407). Both market centers have operated since, but the St. George commercial district, today known as the Piazza, or central square, grew into the city's upscale retail and shopping sector. Addis Merkato became Addis Ababa's main trade center and large numbers of Amhara as well as Tigray joined the Arabs as merchants and commercial workers (Area Handbook 407). By the 1960's, the Arab influence in Addis Merkato had diminished and Ethiopians dominated trade and sales (Area Handbook 407).

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