Ethiopian State-Owned Enterprises Pay 42% of Big-Tax Haul

ETHIOPIA · PUBLIC FINANCE

What the Ethiopian state-owned enterprises tax figures show

The Large Taxpayers Branch Office collected 522.67 billion birr in FY2025/26, the Ethiopian fiscal year running from 8 July 2025 to 7 July 2026. It has 746 registered taxpayers on its books.

Of those, 31 state-owned enterprises paid 217.87 billion birr. That is 42% of the branch’s total revenue from 4% of its taxpayers.

Foreign-backed private companies came next. The 127 FDI-linked firms, 17% of the base, contributed 102.24 billion birr or 20%.

Fifty banks and insurers paid 65.37 billion birr, or 12%. The remaining 532 domestic private companies — 71% of the base — generated 104.60 billion birr, also 20%.

Those four blocks account for 490.08 billion birr of the 522.67 billion birr total. Ethiopian Business Review’s account of the presentation does not break out the balance.

The ten companies that fund the state

The top of the table is where the concentration becomes vivid. The ten largest taxpayers alone paid 254.44 billion birr, about US$1.57 billion, or 48.71% of everything the branch collected.

Eight of those ten are state-owned or government-linked. Heineken Breweries and Awash Bank are the only private firms in the group.

Ethio Telecom leads on 65.84 billion birr, 12.60% of the branch total. The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia follows on 36.87 billion birr and Ethiopian Airlines Group on 30.87 billion birr.

One comparison captures the shape of it. Ethio Telecom alone paid more than the 65.37 billion birr contributed by the 50 banks and insurers counted as a separate block — a bucket that excludes the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

A steep curve with an unusual composition

Tax administrations everywhere see concentration. Ethiopia’s figures put 29% of large taxpayers behind 80% of collections, with the remaining 71% supplying 20%.

That much is close to the familiar pattern. The composition is what makes it unusual.

In most economies the concentrated top is private. Here it is state-owned, because the government controls telecoms, aviation, banking, power and logistics.

Why this matters for the reform programme

Ethiopia is two years into a four-year, US$3.4 billion IMF Extended Credit Facility approved in July 2024, with the Fund completing its fifth review on 1 July 2026. The programme includes opening sectors to foreign competition and preparing state assets for partial sale.

If 42% of large-taxpayer revenue comes from 31 companies the state controls, then privatising or restructuring any of them has an immediate revenue consequence. Reform is not fiscally neutral.

Banking is the sector most directly exposed. Ethiopia opened banking to foreign entrants for the first time in some fifty years under a proclamation passed in December 2024 and National Bank of Ethiopia licensing rules issued in June 2025.

Aggregate foreign ownership of an Ethiopian bank is capped at 49%. A single strategic investor is limited to 40%.

The foreign-investment cohort already pays close to its proportional share, at 17% of registrants and 20% of revenue. A headcount-to-revenue comparison says nothing about effective tax rates, but it does suggest the cohort is neither marginal nor sheltered.

What to watch next

The first marker is whether the state-owned share falls as private and foreign firms grow. A declining 42% would be evidence the reform is broadening the base rather than reshuffling it.

The second is the 532 domestic private companies producing only 20% of the revenue. That tail is where compliance work has the most room to move the total.

The third is the target. The branch is aiming for 816.70 billion birr, about US$5.1 billion, in FY2026/27 — some 56% above what it just collected.

The IMF projects Ethiopia will be Sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing economy in 2026, at 9.2%. It is running that growth on an unusually narrow fiscal spine.

Frequently asked questions

How much do Ethiopian state-owned enterprises pay in tax?

Thirty-one state-owned enterprises paid 217.87 billion birr, about US$1.35 billion, in FY2025/26 — 42% of all revenue collected by the Large Taxpayers Branch Office. They make up just 4% of its registered taxpayers.

Which company is Ethiopia’s largest taxpayer?

Ethio Telecom, on 65.84 billion birr, or 12.60% of the branch total. That is more than the 65.37 billion birr paid by the 50 banks and insurers counted as a separate block, which excludes the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

How concentrated is the revenue?

The ten largest taxpayers paid 254.44 billion birr, or 48.71% of the branch total, and eight of the ten are state-owned or government-linked. Across the whole base, 29% of registrants produced 80% of the revenue.

What do foreign-backed companies contribute?

127 FDI-backed private companies, 17% of the base, paid 102.24 billion birr or 20% of the total. That is close to proportional to their share of registrants.

Why does this matter for Ethiopia’s IMF-backed reforms?

Because privatising or restructuring any of the 31 state firms carries an immediate revenue consequence when they supply 42% of large-taxpayer collections. Ethiopia is two years into a four-year, US$3.4 billion IMF facility approved in July 2024.

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