On a sunny mid-November day last year, 19-year-old Rahel Wondimu attended a public hearing at the Intercontinental Addis Hotel on Joseph Tito Street. The meeting was organized by the city authorities to discuss public safety during football matches in the capital.

As one of 19,500 registered and paying members of Saint George Sports Association, Kedus Giorgis, Rahel was entitled to attend the meeting. A passionate fan of her club, she wore the orange and yellow jersey of her team that she bought for 200 Br.

It is one of three jerseys she wears to football matches that she attends all over the country, often travelling with her team.

St. George, one of 16 football clubs in the national premier league, has a huge fan base and sells sports paraphernalia including wristbands, scarves, flags and shirts both to mobilise the base and generate funds.

Rahel’s favorite pick is a checkered jersey that sells for 350 Br.

"I can't buy it as it is a bit too expensive," she said.

The club sells the shirts and the merchandise at costs that range from 150 Br to 350 Br, and are made available at the club offices in Qirqos district.

Saint George Sports Association owns the football club and the merchandise helps increase the Association’s revenue, according to Menilik Girma, public relations head.

"The demand for the products has increased drastically," said Menilik.

Two years ago the Association sold 6,232 jerseys, but just in the two months since September of last year, the number has reached 5,000.

The club has been importing these products, especially from Italy and China. This year, it has started to source the products from a local supplier, Alpha Tibeb Advertising.

"The forex crunch has led us to switch to a local supplier and the local products are cheaper," said Menilik.

Another team that has enjoyed a bonanza of jersey sales is Ethiopia Coffee Sports Club, Buna, which has 20,000 registered fans.

"This year the jerseys sold out faster than we expected, and we might run out soon," said Solomon Tamrat, Vice President of supporters Association.

Last year the association sold 20,000 jerseys and it has prepared 25,000 jerseys for this year. The club issues one type of jersey and sells each for 400 Br.

"So far we have sold 20,000," he said.

In the first three days of October last year, when they opened their annual sale, the club sold 4,560 jerseys and earned 1.8 million Br.

Not only the old and prominent clubs are using this mechanism to raise funds, but also late entrants to the league have adopted the system.

Fasil Kenema Sports Club in Gonder, Amhara Regional State, joined the premier league three years ago and it is marketing its merchandise.

Unlike the two other teams, Fasil Kenema's fans are mostly in Gonder where the club sold over 7,000 jerseys last year.