As Holidays Near, Addis Abeba's Markets Thrum with Hope, Hardship

Sep 7 , 2025. By AMANUEL BEKELE ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Beneath the holiday buzz lies a recurring dilemma of the tension between tradition and affordability. Experts say, as long as holiday spending is fueled by credit and habit, seasonal price surges are unlikely to ease. Market forces and personal choices are inextricably linked, reports AMANUEL BEKELE, Fortune Staff Writer.

As the holiday nears, the markets of Addis Abeba thrum with anticipation and anxiety. In the capital’s crowded stalls, tradition collides with economic reality as families brace for another festive season marked by spiralling costs and tightening budgets.

At Shola Market, one of the city’s busiest hubs, the air is thick with the sound of haggling. Vendors perched behind tables stacked with everything from butter and honey to chicken and spices call out to the growing stream of shoppers, all intent on piecing together a holiday meal without breaking the bank.

For Emebet Worku, 65, the pressure is all too familiar. She moves slowly between the market’s crowded rows, a quiet determination in her eyes as she shops for her 11-year-old grandson. Living on a pension and what she can earn from selling vegetables, she measures each purchase carefully. The day’s biggest triumph comes at the chicken stalls, where, after a lengthy negotiation, the price of a chicken dropped by 200 Br to 1,400 Br.

“This is all I have on me,” Emebet told the vendor, producing a worn pouch hidden under her clothes.

She counted the bills with care, aware she had saved 500 Br by shopping early, and planned to store the bird in her freezer until the holiday.

“Everything is very expensive,” she sighed, weighing every decision at the stalls. For Emebet and many others, each purchase is a test of how far the Birr can stretch.

All around her, the market last week pulsed with similar stories. In Doro Tera, the section reserved for chickens, local roosters fetched 1,500 Br, while hens go for 1,200 Br. Larger roosters from Wolayta Zone command even more, selling for between 1,800 Br and 2,000 Br. Two young vendors, Markos Bekele and Abel Molla, both 24, tout their stock, insisting prices are unchanged from the Easter peak.

“It could go up to 2,200 Br in the coming days,” Markos warned, part anticipation, part caution.

Profits remained slim. Abel, who buys from city suppliers, and Markos, who brought in birds from Wolayta and Gojjam zones, found margins rarely top 50 Br. Still, demand seldom falters as the holiday approaches.

Across the aisle, buyers crowd into Qibe Tera, the butter market. Here, Solomon Addisu spelt out his prices with an easy smile. A kilo of butter from Sheno sold for 1,100 Br to 1,500 Br, while varieties from Gojjam and Wollega fetched 1,200 Br and 1,100 Br, respectively.

“When the price I buy for increases, so does the price I sell for," Solomon said. "What else can I do? People will not stop buying.”

Last holiday, Sheno’s best butter was selling for 900 Br; last week, it commanded 1,500 Br. Solomon’s shelves also offer honey at 1,000 Br for a kilo, cheese at 500 Br, red pepper at 1,300 Br, and chilli at 1,200 Br. He admitted business has been unusually slow, but expected things to pick up as the holiday drew closer.

Not far away, Abeba Ashagrie managed the Wegayehu Spice Shop, counters loaded with jars of red pepper, chilli, long pepper, and cumin. Prices mirrored the season, where prices ranged from red pepper (1,300 Br), chilli (1,200 Br) and black cumin (800 Br) to white cumin, cardamom (2,800 Br) and cinnamon (1,200 Br).

“Prices are high," Abeba told Fortune. "But, people always buy for the New Year.”

Most of the ingredients can be found at Shola Market. Onions sell for 120 Br a kilo, while eggs have climbed to 25 Br each for locals, and 23 for hybrids. Lemons, indispensable for Doro We't (chicken stew), go for 200 Br a kilo, or 10 Br to 15 Br apiece. For shoppers like Emebet, every price was a calculation of what to buy and what to forego.

Ten kilometres away at Qera Market, the capital’s sprawling livestock market, the scene was familiar and tense. The bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle echo through muddy and rain-soaked yards as buyers inspect animals and haggled over deals that seem more daunting each season. Traders blamed rising prices on feed shortages and rising transport costs, while buyers bargained fiercely, pushing back against the annual holiday price surge.

Menu Bedir, 32, stood quietly at the edge of the sheep pens, a wooden stick in hand, surveying the quiet aisles. Prices for sheep have climbed since the Easter holiday. Last week, it ranged from 12,000 Br to 25,000 Br; goats fetched between 12,000 Br and 30,000 Br.

“I've not sold a single one yet," Menu told Fortune. "It's very quiet.”

Menu, who sources sheep from Jimma and Wolaita and goats from Harar, all arriving through Asko Birchiko Factory in the city’s northwest, a key distribution hub, hoped for brisker business as the holiday nears. The trip from Asko to Qera costs 3,500 Br for a load of 70 animals. He was betting that, as with every holiday, the market would catch fire days before the festivities.

Bargaining at Qera often ends in frustration. One prospective buyer stormed off after a seller refused his offer of 13,000 Br for a small sheep.

“I'll buy two chickens and meat from a butchery,” the buyer said, ignoring the calls of sellers promising no better deals elsewhere.

However, in the cattle pens, some saw opportunity. Mesfin Eshetu, a restaurateur, bought two oxen for his business and a goat for home the day before. A bovine cost 100,000 Br and the other 95,000 Br, well below the 125,000 Br he had paid at Easter. The goat was a bargain at 14,500 Br.

“It seems like the price has gone down from the past holiday,” Mesfin said.

He was unsure how long the drop would last. Still, he enjoyed the market’s chaotic buzz as he finished his shopping.

A few yards away, Mesfin Tesfaye, 43, a trader who sources cattle from Gondar, offered his animals with price tags ranging from 65,000 Br to 130,000 Br. Cattle that sold for 110,000 Br during the Easter holiday fetched 80,000 Br last week.

“People who come looking for cattle are pleasantly surprised," he observed. "They hear prices have gone up, but that is not the case.”

Mesfin attributed the drop to recent changes at the market, including efforts to cut out intermediaries and connect sellers directly with buyers.

City officials are keen to consolidate on such reforms. Fisseha Tibebu, deputy head of the Addis Abeba City Trade Bureau, blamed the intermediaries for driving up prices, but they have been sidelined, with sellers carrying ID cards and uniforms.

“We're focusing on a healthy market,” he told Fortune. "While the Bureau does not set prices, it monitors for fairness and checks for abuses."

The city administration has set up five dedicated animal markets. Sheep arrive from Jimma, and cattle from Harar, feeding a network of traders selling more directly to buyers. Mesfin Tesfaye believes these changes are already reviving Qera, noting that sellers moved 11 of 16 cattle in a single day.

At the Addis Abeba Abattoirs Enterprise, preparations for the holiday were in full swing. The ground was leased at 100 Br a head. Atakilti Gebremichael, head of communications at the Enterprise, expected around 5,000 animals, two-thirds cattle and the rest sheep and goats, to be processed.

“We've fixed the slaughter lines, trained workers, conducted orientations with government bodies, and cleaned the trucks,” he said.

The Enterprise does not import livestock, but it provides facilities and inspections to ensure public health is maintained. Butchers, once managed by the Enterprise, are now leased out, but oversight remains. All slaughter professionals undergo health checks every six months. However, Atakilti warned that illegal slaughtering, outside the Enterprise's inspection grounds, is still a major concern, especially when meat enters the open market.

“Illegal slaughter damages the economy, health, and environment,” he said.

Meat sold without the Enterprise's stamp will be seized, incinerated, and can result in arrests and market closures.

Rising costs, however, extend well beyond market stalls. While transporting 16 cattle from Gondar, a single Isuzu truck faces a 140,000 Br fare for the journey, up from 90,000 Br during the last holiday. Drivers pay between 5,000 Br and 10,000 Br at every checkpoint, with total road fees sometimes reaching 50,000 Br.

“We're working with different bodies to facilitate transport and keep animals safe on the routes,” Fisseha said.

In vegetable markets, the City Bureau intervenes more directly, setting prices after consulting with consumer groups. Five dedicated markets for fruits and vegetables have been prepared. In the third quarter, the city opened 374 new weekend markets, bringing the total to 1,434, easing congestion and improving access.

Consumer associations are pitching in as well. According to Meron Mengesha, director of the Berhan Consumers Association in Kolfe Qeranio District, the group has opened bazaars citywide, offering flour, cooking oil, vegetables, and other essentials at prices sourced directly from cooperative unions.

“People are happy, and the exchanges are good,” she said.

Six permanent shops also sell goods at what she described as fair rates. Yet, beneath these efforts, deeper trends persist, according to Molla Alemayehu (PhD), a senior researcher at the Ethiopian Economics Association. He sees holiday price surges as inevitable unless supply outpaces demand. Rising transport and fuel costs, together with gaps in harvests, push traders to raise prices even before shoppers arrive.

“There is an unhealthy habit of overspending during holidays, sometimes even borrowing money,” said Molla.

He believes solutions lie not only with policy but with consumers themselves. While officials can facilitate transportation and inspect for hoarding, Molla urged shoppers to break the cycle by refusing to overpay.

“If people refused to overpay, sellers would have no choice but to lower prices,” he said.

PUBLISHED ON Sep 07,2025 [ VOL 26 , NO 1323]