Officials (Zeleke Temesgen, Laudemir Müller, George Maha, Meles Alem and Jandyr Ferreira dos Santos) pose for a photograph during the inauguration of the ApexBrasil Africa Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo Credit: Brasil 247

NNA News - Brazil’s Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, ApexBrasil, has opened its first permanent office in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as Brazil seeks to deepen trade and investment ties with the continent. Report compiled by Brasil 247. 

ApexBrasil President Laudemir André Müller officially inaugurated the office on Wednesday, following a business mission to Ethiopia in February. The agency said the Addis Ababa office would provide a permanent platform for expanding commercial cooperation between Brazil and Ethiopia while supporting engagement across East Africa and the wider continent.

The move comes amid renewed political engagement between Brazil and Ethiopia. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Ethiopia in 2024, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Brazil in 2025. Despite their combined population of more than 300 million, bilateral trade and investment remain below their potential, according to the source material.

Brazilian Ambassador to Ethiopia Jandyr Ferreira dos Santos described the opening as a significant step in the economic relationship between the two countries. “The occasion represents much more than the opening of a new office. Today, we are inaugurating a new chapter in the economic relationship between Brazil and Ethiopia,” Ferreira dos Santos said.

He said the permanent presence would allow the two countries to move beyond periodic trade missions and high-level visits towards more sustained commercial engagement. “We seek to build relationships every day, forge opportunities from beginning to end, and turn good ideas into projects, investments and jobs,” he said.

Ethiopia’s Director-General for Europe and the Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Meles Alem, said the office reflected months of work between officials in Brasília and Addis Ababa. “The visit represents the culmination of months of dedicated work between our teams in Brasília and Addis, transforming strong political will and commitments into a tangible presence for the benefit of our citizens,” Alem said.

Alem also highlighted Ethiopia’s location as a potential gateway for Brazilian companies seeking access to wider African markets. “Addis is the political center of Africa. It is also the aviation hub of the continent,” he said, pointing to direct air links between Ethiopia and Brazil and Ethiopia’s position within the African Continental Free Trade Area.

ApexBrasil said Ethiopia presents opportunities for Brazilian companies in areas including machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, construction materials, food and manufactured goods. Its Opportunity Map has identified 59 export opportunities in Ethiopia, alongside a sectoral project focused on sugarcane ethanol.

However, Brazil’s exports to Ethiopia remain heavily concentrated, with 97.4 per cent consisting of fuel oils derived from petroleum or bituminous minerals, excluding crude oil, according to ApexBrasil data. The agency said its broader African strategy had already included missions to Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique, with the Addis Ababa office now providing a continental base for its activities.

Müller said the new office represented a broader shift in Brazil’s engagement with Africa. “The opening of a new unit is what brings us here. And this is not simply the opening of an office. It is the opening of a new chapter,” he said. He said Brazil’s trade with Africa had recovered to about US$25 billion in 2025 after falling to US$11.5 billion in 2020, although he acknowledged that trade remained below its potential.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission said the new office could also support investment, industrial cooperation, technology transfer and access to African markets, with particular opportunities identified in agribusiness, manufacturing, renewable energy, logistics and infrastructure.

For both countries, the office represents an effort to translate growing diplomatic ties into sustained commercial activity, with Addis Ababa positioned as a base for expanding Brazil’s economic engagement across Africa.