Car buyers face a shortage of license plates as the federal agency responsible for manufacturing the plates ran out of raw materials earlier this month. The shortage of private (Code-2) plates is due to a lack of hot stamping foil used to paint the embossed plate numbers.

Productions of the plates were discontinued two weeks ago, confirmed Solomon Ambachew, director of communications at the Public Transport Service Agency.

The Agency took over the job of license plate manufacturing from the Federal Transport Authority last October after the latter was dissolved as part of a shuffling under the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD). It has minted out nearly 5,000 plates in the months since. However, the declining stock of stamping foil has been a serious concern for its officials.

They have prompted the Ministry of Transport & Logistics to facilitate access to foreign exchange from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to import raw materials.

“We've yet to receive a response," Solomon told Fortune.

This is a development that surfaced amid a surge in the number of vehicles imported. New cars, particularly Suzuki models, have mushroomed on the roads of Addis Abeba in recent months. An average of 3,100 cars are brought in a month, added to the more than 1.3 million vehicles registered. Over two-thirds of these vehicles are in the capital.

Regional and city administrations are responsible for assigning and distributing license plates to vehicle owners. The Addis Abeba Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority distributes plates in the capital's 11 districts through its branch offices. Vehicle owners are required to present title certificates, proof of third-party insurance, and annual vehicle inspection certificates to receive plates. They are charged close to 2,500 Br for the service.

Most of the plates the Authority hands out are for private vehicles or vehicles registered to businesses (Code-3). It had requested 10,000 "Code-2" license plates from the Agency three months ago. Its officials say declining stocks forced them to seek additional plates before the end of the budget year.