The hectic, narrow streets of Mercato seemed busier last week than the usual. A wave of last-minute shoppers looking to buy supplies for the Timket (Epiphany) holiday festivities may have caused the surge in traffic. Mercato was awash with noise and a flurry of activities around noon on a workday. Thousands of traders had their best goods on display, hoping to attract customers visiting an open market often touted as the largest on the continent. The market and its numerous quarters cater to every need, from clothing and electronics to foodstuffs and agricultural inputs.

Among the flood of shoppers fluttering about on that hot, sunny afternoon was Wendimhun Ginchil. A father of two, he was rushing between stores in Somali Terra, the market section with many traders dealing in spare parts for vehicles. This part of Mercato is also notorious as a graveyard for stolen cars.

Nonetheless, it has long been the destination for drivers, vehicle owners and mechanics in the capital searching for hard-to-find spare parts. Wendimhun was in the neighbourhood searching for a water pump for his Russian-made LADA model. He makes a living driving a blue-and-white taxi, barely hanging on to a trade pushed to the edge by the rapid rise of ride-hailing services. His income has been waning; to make matters worse, his car broke down a couple of weeks ago, leaving him idle.

"I'm barely making enough to support my family," he told Fortune.

The breadwinner in his family, Wendimhun had to visit Somali Terra to replace his faulty water pump. The model he drives is so old that parts are not found in markets elsewhere in the city. He had visited Somali Terra in the days prior but left without buying what he had come for upon hearing the prices quoted by dealers. Unable to find the water pump anywhere else, he had to return.

“People told me the only place I can find spare parts taken from other old cars is here,” he said.

Wendimhun found what he was looking for. To his surprise, the water pump price had jumped an extra 100 Br since his first visit a week earlier. However, he was in a tight bind and agreed to pay 3,600 Br to get his car back on the streets.

"My car is my only source of income," he said.

For tens of thousands of drivers in the transport industry, fuel expenses, servicing, and the cost of spare parts for aged vehicles become unbearable. Not only are prices on the steady rise, but the parts themselves are difficult to find even on dealers' shelves in Somali Terra.

The conundrum is the result of a cocktail of factors. The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, global logistics disruptions, foreign currency shortages and tax policies are all culprits behind the unprecedented cost to keep vehicles running. Vehicle owners have little choice but to shell out exorbitant amounts of money for spare parts indispensable.

Melaku Moges, who runs a tour and travel business, has an illustrative story. Two months ago, he went shopping for spark plugs (also known as candela) in Teklehaimanot, another area not far from Somali Terra that serves as a hub for spare-parts trading. He bought a pack for a little over 1,000 Br. Melaku returned last week looking for more spark plugs for another vehicle; he was told it would cost him an additional 350 Br.

“The price is outrageous,” Melaku told Fortune. “But I have no choice."

Walelegn Tolcha, the owner of the spare parts shop where Melaku bought the plugs, had few comforting words for his customer.

“You can go to any shop in the city and check for yourself; this is the current market price,” he said.

On the same day that Melaku searched for spark plugs in Teklehaimanot, a crowd was queued up inside the compound of one of the Motor & Engineering Company of Ethiopia (MOENCO) branches, an exclusive dealer of Toyota vehicles in Ethiopia. Close to 40 vehicle owners were lined up to buy spare parts at the sales centre at its headquarters near Hayat Hospital in Bole District. The sales staff operating eight windows had little time for a break as customers poured in one after the other.

MOENCO, a subsidiary of Inchcape, a London-based company in the automotive industry, sells Toyota vehicles and provides spare parts. Founded in 1959 with an initial capital of 200,000 Br, MOENCO took over the Toyota franchise business in Ethiopia in 1968.

Haji Abdurahman was among those in line that day, buying a side-view mirror for his Toyota Vitz model. A little over a year ago, he had bought an identical product from Somali Terra for around 1,500 Br. Dealers there have run out of stock, leading Haji to make his way to MOENCO. He ended up paying close to 9,000 Br for the mirror.

“I can’t believe I had to spend that much," he said.

Although the prices of spare parts may vary widely depending on the make, model and year of manufacture, the market has seen blanket increases. Three months ago, a name-brand oil filter (locally known as filtro) cost 350 Br. It has since jumped to 500 Br.

Brake pads of the well-known Asmico brand have seen prices triple to 1,800 Br over the same period, while prices for a high-quality water pump sit near 5,000 Br, up from 3,500 Br. Such a dramatic jump in prices within a short period has come as a shock even to Walelegn, who has been in the spare parts business for the last two decades. He is familiar with the ups and downs of the spare parts market.

“But I've never seen prices shooting up like this,” he said.

Ethiopia imported 13 major automotive spare parts, including brakes, gearboxes, suspension systems and radiators last year. According to data obtained from Customs Commission, it cost the economy close to 13 billion Br in 2021, showing a 12pc growth from the previous year. Much of it, accounting for 33pc of the total value, comes from China. Its neighbour, Japan, follows with a little more than three billion Birr's worth of spare part imports.

In economic parlance, it is known as a balance of payments deficit – the gap between what a country receives in foreign currency and its spending to pay for its imports. Ethiopia's woes in forex crunch have been looming for years. What it offers to the world in goods and services can only cover one-fourth of the 16 billion dollars in import bills, an average over the past five years. Revenues from the exports of goods stood at less than three billion dollars during this period.

Walelegn blames the unavailability of foreign currency for the escalating prices.