City authorities have shut down a commercial centre in the country's largest marketplace over allegations the share company that owns the building has not renewed its license. It is a decision that puts hundreds of tenants in the crossfire.

Officials from the Wereda 8 Trade Bureau of the Addis Ketema District sealed the building off on September 15, 2021, alleging that the company holds an expired trade license. The company's name is not even in the bureau's registration system, according to Hiwot Gugsa, head of the trade bureau.

Property of Edget Be-Andinet S.C., the three-storey building, was constructed in Mercato a decade ago at the cost of 40 million Br. It accommodated over 500 stores and shops, 30 offices, a cafe, a Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), and a parking lot.

Sahilu Habtemariam, the chairperson of the share company, blames the District's Trade Bureau for not cooperating while his office was trying to renew the trade license.

"They've shut us down without a court warrant," Sahilu told Fortune. "It's illegal."

There was a court dispute between the share company and district officials, where the latter accused the company of falsifying the details of its paid-up capital. Officials had also closed five shops in the building owned by the company, but these were later reopened after the Addis Abeba First Instance Court ruled in favour of Edget Be-Andinet S.C. Judges also ordered the share company to deposit the company's capital and submit documentation to authorities. This led the share company to raise its paid-up capital to 56 million Br, from less than half a million Birr.

The closure has pushed hundreds of businesses out of their shops.

Betsegaw Temesgen is one of these who has been selling clothes in the building for the past five years. He employes three, all of whom depend on the shop to earn their living and support their families.