Mulat Abera, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, used family connections abroad to invest 600 Australian dollars in a drone, a remotely-operated unmanned aerial vehicle, with a mounted camera.

The drone Mulat purchased is the Chinese made DJI Spark, and he intends to use it to take aerial images of activities, events, landscapes and cityscapes. He wants to document the current state of Addis Abeba in the hope that the images will provide historical data that can find use in the future.

Drone imagery has become a popular vehicle in movie and video productions, for television stations and in documenting occasions such as weddings and rallies.

Mulat, a graduate in business management, has been interested in photography and wanted to use drone technology to enter an industry that has shown recent popularity in the city. Drones were largely absent in Ethiopia until the trend emerged recently, and many businesses and individuals like Mulat are now rushing toward opportunities opened by the technology.

There are no current rules and regulations however that govern the importation and operation of drones in the country. As a result, Mulatu’s drone, brought into the country by one of his family members, was seized by officials at Bole International Airport last October over clearance issues.

Officials at the Ministry of Revenues told him to obtain permission from the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and the Information Network Security Agency to allow him to import the drone into the country.

Officials at the Ministry of Revenues have held up clearance for Mulat's drone by insisting that he submit permission to import and operate the equipment.

"But both of these government offices told me that I cannot obtain a license to import the item," he told Fortune.

Animut Lemma, public relations director of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, confirms that no laws regulate the importation and operation of drones. However, the Authority is drafting a proclamation that has not yet become law, he said.

The draft has now been made available for comments and has received feedback from the National Intelligence & Security Service, Defence Ministry and Information Network Security Agency.

In the meantime, different media companies, individuals and film and video production companies own and operate drones.

Among the media companies are LTV Ethiopia and Evangelical Television, both run by the same owners.

Evangelical Television, a secular television station, has owned and operated a DJI Phantom 4, which costs 1,000 dollars, since 2017. According to Biruk Masresha, production manager at Evangelical Television, the station was neither required to obtain a license, a permit to import the product, nor to pay taxes when it brought the drone into the country from the United States.

The station uses the drone camera to take footage for documentaries, to capture high altitude urban scenery and to record public events, rallies and gatherings.

"The drones take footage very fast and are capable of taking footage from high elevations that are inconvenient or impossible to capture using regular handheld cameras," says Biruk.

Messay Assefa, production manager of Arts Picture, has been in the rental business since 2017. Messay owns another Chinese-made drone, a Phantom 3, which he bought locally for 35,000 Br.

But the drones and the cameras are very sensitive, and it is difficult to repair them once they sustain damage, according to Biruk.

The station has two drones, one of which has a broken camera and is therefore not operational.

Even though there are no regulations or laws governing the use and operation of drones, operators are prohibited from flying over 5,000m above sea level; and flights over palaces, embassies, aviation companies, military camps and some other restricted areas are prohibited.

Nahoo Television Station is another operator of drones, initially launched in 2016 by Nahoo LLC, a Kenyan Media company in partnership with a local production company, Tuba Media Plc. Nahoo Television is now owned by Rosetta Media & Communications Plc, which acquired the shares of the station from Nahoo LLC.

The station used a drone during three events, according to Michael Melaku, human resources manager at the station.

"One of them was the June 23, 2018, rally held in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD)," said Michael.