Transforming Ethiopia's
tax landscape

How RELX is helping lay the foundation for sustainable growth

A group of 10 people who led on the project

December 2024 marked an important moment in Ethiopia’s economic development with the publication of the consolidated tax laws in English and Amharic for the first time in Ethiopia’s history.

Over the last three years, the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, LexisNexis South Africa and the tax team at RELX, a global provider of information and analytics, have worked closely on a pro bono basis with Ethiopia’s government to translate tax laws from Amharic into English, to consolidate the Ethiopian tax laws in both English and Amharic, and to ensure they are published and freely accessible on the websites of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Revenue and Customs Commission.

The consolidated tax laws can be accessed here and can be found under ‘Resources’ and ‘Consolidated tax laws’, on the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia website.

There were twin launch events to celebrate this special occasion hosted by the Ethiopia Ministry of Finance in Addis Ababa and by RELX in London, bringing together government representatives from Ethiopia and the UK, non-governmental institutions including the Ethiopian, European and Chinese Chambers of Commerce, and organisations such as the International Centre for Tax and Development.  

A screenshot of the tax laws online
People sitting at the launch event in Addis Ababa

In his opening speech at the inauguration ceremony in Addis Ababa, Honourable Dr Eyob Tekalign, State Minister of Fiscal Policy and Public Finance, Ministry of Finance Ethiopia, explained that “the fact that the tax laws are translated and organised in English, and made accessible to the user on the website, is of great importance to the efforts of Ethiopia to accelerate its growth and development according to the macroeconomic reform, and to become a member of the World Trade Organisation.”

The coverage of the launch of the consolidated tax laws in Addis Ababa was covered by Fana Broadcasting Corporate and is also available on Youtube.

Tewedaj Mehammed Juber, Director of Legal Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Finance, provided the context that “significant challenges have long hindered the full potential of Ethiopia’s tax system, with some tax legislation, in particular tax directives, in the past only being available in Amharic and not English and hence a considerable linguistic divide existed. This resulted in ambiguity and uncertainty, particularly for international investors and multinational corporations.”

Dr Eyob Tekalign giving a speech

The Honourable Dr Eyob Tekalign, State Minister of Fiscal Policy and Public Finance in Addis Ababa

The Honourable Dr Eyob Tekalign, State Minister of Fiscal Policy and Public Finance in Addis Ababa

Attendees listening to a speech at the launch event in London
Nick Luff, CFO at RELX and Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu

Nick Luff, CFO at RELX and Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu

Nick Luff, CFO at RELX and Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu

Jalia and Mai smiling

Dr Jalia Kangave, Associate Research Fellow at the International Centre for Tax and Development and Mai Trinh, Head of Tax Risk, Reporting and Reputation at RELX

Dr Jalia Kangave, Associate Research Fellow at the International Centre for Tax and Development and Mai Trinh, Head of Tax Risk, Reporting and Reputation at RELX

At the launch event in London, Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu, Deputy Head of Mission, Ethiopia, explained that “Ethiopia initiated a bold and strategic partnership with the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation in 2022 with the objective of enhancing accessibility, transparency and efficiency. The effects of this initiative are already evident. It cultivates a more welcoming environment for foreign direct investment by enhancing the accessibility and clarity of our tax laws. The availability of tax laws in English bolsters Ethiopia’s capacity to engage with the global community, solidifying the country’s commitment to transparent and inclusive governance.”

The initiative is part of LexisNexis’s deep commitment to advancing the rule of law and its work through the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation. Terry Jennings, Vice President and Treasurer of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, explained more about the foundation and its mission at the inauguration ceremony in Addis Ababa: “The rule of law is the core mission and vision of LexisNexis. There are four key elements of the rule of law: transparency of the law, access to legal remedy, equal treatment under the law, and independent judiciaries. The tax law consolidation project in Ethiopia primarily advances transparency”.

Terry Jennings and Tewedaj Mehammed Juber at the launch event in Addis Ababa

Terry Jennings, LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation and Tewedaj Mehammed Juber, Ministry of Finance

Terry Jennings, LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation and Tewedaj Mehammed Juber, Ministry of Finance

She went on to say that “The World Bank has taken a strong interest in this work, and they have decided to make this Ethiopian work the start of what will be a full continent access to tax information available for free in one location to be built and managed by LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.”

Lisa Mackie, Head of East Africa department at the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, whose colleagues Laura Wilson, Berni Smith and Buraq Nuseibeh played a vital role in helping RELX connect with the Ethiopian government and provided great insights about the landscape in Ethiopia, commented that “If I look across Africa beyond Ethiopia today, the potential that this kind of project could bring to transparency and to improve the environment and the clarity of the tax regime is genuinely exciting. There could be a huge potential there”.

Mai Trinh shares: "As Head of Tax Risk, Reporting and Reputation at RELX, it has been a tremendous pleasure and privilege to initiate the project and see it come to fruition. I would like to thank the wonderful project team, Tewedaj Mehammed Juber and Abraham Rega from the Ministry of Finance Ethiopia, Terry Jennings from the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, Michelle Guy, Nikesh Ramlutchman, Poovendran Nadasan, Johara Ally, Loshini Govender, Maggie Talanda, and Janet Labuschagne from LexisNexis South Africa, and Ian Glencross from RELX Tax. As Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu puts it, this project 'transcends geographical and linguistic boundaries and exemplifies the strength of collaboration, innovation, and shared principles'. I am really excited that we are now at the dawn of a transformation of the tax landscape not just for Ethiopia, but also for the whole of Africa."