Trade Mis-Invoicing Leaves Ethiopia with $24.6bn Value Gap

Aug 16 , 2026

Ethiopia recorded an estimated trade-related value gap of 24.6 billion dollars from 2013 to 2022, placing it among East Africa's largest exposure points to trade mis-invoicing and illicit financial flows reports Africa Development Bank. The estimate trails Kenya's 47.5 billion dollars and Tanzania's 35.5 billion dollars over the same period. Such losses narrow already limited fiscal space and weaken domestic resource mobilisation. The findings point to broader weaknesses in revenue mobilisation across East Africa, including underdeveloped property taxation, weak non-tax revenue collection and large shares of unidentified revenues. Stronger customs controls, digital trade systems, better invoice verification and improved cross-border data sharing could help curb the leakages.