Reliable Availability
Tackle inconsistent product availability, one of the core pain points across the Ethiopian food chain.
Built by retail veterans for Ethiopia
Transforming Ethiopia's food wholesale and retail future.
Jimcharo Trading is being formed as an Ethiopian company to build a modern food import and distribution platform for Ethiopian customers. The first objective is practical: improve availability of dry packaged food, reduce avoidable price pressure and support a stronger local wholesale and retail ecosystem.
Ethiopia's scale, rising incomes and changing urban lifestyles create a rare opportunity. Jimcharo Trading aims to help build a modern food-distribution infrastructure that improves access to quality food, creates employment and strengthens the informal retail sector rather than displacing it.
Population, m
135
1642035
World Bank projection
Household final consumption expenditure, $bn
120
2302035
Scenario projection
Urbanization, %
23%
31%2035
World Bank projection
Modern food retail, %
5%
18%2035
Scenario projection
Who We Are
A uniquely Ethiopian player with a patient, local-customer mindset.
Jimcharo Trading is led by people who have built and managed food wholesale and retail businesses across diverse markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia, while the company's purpose is firmly local: serving Ethiopia's consumers, shops, restaurants and suppliers.
Collectively we have held leading management positions at businesses representing, in aggregate, more than US$75 billion in annual turnover and over 500,000 employees.
We have strong links to providers of ‘permanent capital’, well suited to backing long-term opportunities in food wholesale and retail once the Jimcharo Trading model has been validated at a smaller scale.
Better Trade Terms
Work directly with manufacturers and strong sourcing partners to reduce unnecessary intermediaries.
Local Strength
Build a serious Ethiopian company that supports local shops, restaurants, consumers and future suppliers.
Local Market Context
Food wholesale and retail are local by definition.
The global record shows that modern food wholesale and retail only work when they respect local culture, food traditions and ways of working. This is especially true in Ethiopia, with its deep history, diverse consumer habits and still predominantly informal retail landscape.
Four decades of emerging-market experience show that modern food wholesale and retail businesses can be built from the ground up while expanding value across the chain. In Russia, modern formats largely substituted traditional trade. In Brazil, competitive wholesalers evolved into hybrid wholesale-retail players that professionalised and reinforced independent retailers as they grew. Brazil started with a much stronger domestic supplier base than Ethiopia has today — a difference Jimcharo addresses directly through its initial focus on import sourcing.
The same experience explains why cross-border retail expansion has so often fallen short: imported formats rarely succeed when they overlook local culture, food traditions and ways of working, or fail to empower the local business unit.
The present perception gap between international investor sentiment and the reality on the ground creates space for committed first movers who build patiently and put the Ethiopian customer first.
Ethiopian Reform Agenda
Ethiopia's policy direction has opened a practical window.
Recent reforms have opened export, import, wholesale and retail activities to foreign investment, reduced conditionality under Directive 1082/2025 and improved the operating environment through exchange-rate, customs, tax and financial-sector reforms.
- 1992 Foreign investment framework established, while wholesale and retail trade remained excluded.
- April 2024 Investment Board Directive 1001/2024 opened export, import, wholesale and retail sectors.
- Summer 2024 Home-Grown Economic Reform advanced exchange-rate, monetary, fiscal and financial-sector reforms.
- June 2025 Directive 1082/2025 reduced conditionality for foreign investment in the sector.
- November 2025 Customs Valuation Directive made transaction value — the price actually paid or payable — the primary basis for customs duty and tax.
- February 2026 National Bank of Ethiopia amendment to the Foreign Exchange Directive: exporters may retain 100% of proceeds; profit-making entities may open foreign-currency accounts and repatriate dividends without prior NBE approval; and import letter-of-credit approvals move to commercial banks.
- February 2026 Council of Ministers tax-incentive regulations.
- March 2027 Intended timetable for Ethiopia to join the WTO at the 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé.
Phased Market Entry Strategy
Start with a focused import model before expanding the platform into wholesale and later retail.
1
Step-by-step entry
Jimcharo Trading will enter the market through a phased creation of an integrated importer, wholesaler and retailer, validating each element before moving further.
- Start narrow, prove the model and scale only after validation.
- Focus on the pain points of availability and high price levels.
- Build a simple operating model suited to Ethiopia.
2
Dry packaged food imports
The first phase concentrates on dry packaged food products where Ethiopia remains import-dependent and where better sourcing can improve terms of trade.
- Improve volume, consistency, quality and price competitiveness.
- Use limited, carefully selected sourcing geographies.
- Keep the model focused before adding complexity.
3
Direct sourcing relationships
Turkey is the first finalised export market, with discussions under way in Ukraine and Morocco to widen the import proposition.
- Work with food manufacturers and possibly retailers at source.
- Avoid exporters, distributors, agents and importers where possible.
- Use sourcing strength to serve Ethiopian wholesalers, retailers and consumers.
Team
A local Ethiopian company built with deep international retail and wholesale expertise.
Jimcharo Trading is being formed as an Ethiopian company for the Ethiopian market. The team combines local Ethiopian knowledge, institutional relationships and practical import-distribution experience with well over a century of cumulative leadership in food retail, wholesale, finance, sourcing and market execution.
Founder
Stephan DuCharme
Addis Ababa-born retail and finance leader whose career spans EBRD banking and the leadership of major food retailers including DIA Group and X5 Retail Group. He brings board-level discipline, operating scale and a long-term commitment to building a serious Ethiopian food platform.
Country Advisor to Founder
Thomas Ferede
Investment and distribution executive with experience at Ethiopian Investment Holdings, IFC and a local family-owned import and distribution business. He helps anchor Jimcharo Trading in Ethiopian institutions, customers, suppliers and practical local realities.
Maxim Gatsuts
Grocery and wholesale executive with leadership roles at Metro Cash & Carry, X5 Group's Karusel hypermarkets and quick-commerce platform Bairro in Portugal. He brings operations, P&L responsibility and start-up execution experience to the Ethiopian launch plan.
Michael Mebratu
Finance professional with experience in trading, manufacturing and professional services businesses. He contributes local financial control, accounting discipline and operational familiarity for the company's formation and early activity.
Mustafa Altindag
Turkey-based retail executive with leadership experience across food discount, book retail and consumer electronics. His background supports Jimcharo Trading's sourcing relationships and operating understanding in a key first supply market.
Frank Lhoest
Netherlands-based governance and corporate services professional with experience at X5 Retail Group NV and Intertrust. He contributes public-company discipline, board process and cross-border structuring experience.
Advisory Council
Experienced support in infrastructure and development finance, strategy, multi-format wholesale and retail operations, sourcing, technology and digital.
Susan Goeransson
Infrastructure and development-finance leader with senior experience at EBRD and OPIC, bringing institutional investment perspective and long-term capital discipline.
Wilhem Kauth
Commercial and private-label specialist with experience across Lidl Portugal, DIA Brazil, GPA and Al-Dabbagh Group, focused on assortment, purchasing and supplier terms.
Anton Mironenkov
Former X5 Group technology, digital and strategy executive with experience in large-scale retail transformation and managing modern digital retail platforms.
Pedro Silva
Food-retail operator and board leader with senior roles across Spar South Africa, Pick n Pay, Jeronimo Martins and Biedronka, bringing multi-market operating judgement.
Previous Experience
Previous Experience In Food Wholesale & Retail
Governance & Compliance
Built to be a serious Ethiopian partner from day one.
The company will operate with the discipline expected by regulators, suppliers, customers and providers of patient capital.
Transparency
Transparent relationships with public authorities, suppliers, logistics providers and customers.
Customs & Tax
Documented transaction values, clear import records and compliance with applicable tax incentive rules.
Supplier Due Diligence
Direct engagement with manufacturers and established retail partners to reduce opaque intermediary risk.
Financial Controls
Digital and cashless relationships with suppliers and customers, supported by reliable payment practices.
Food Safety & Quality Assurance
Jimcharo Trading will work in full compliance with EFDA and international standards.
The first-phase focus on dry packaged food creates a manageable foundation for supplier documentation, product registration, traceability, logistics records and quality assurance routines before more complex operating categories are considered.
- Supplier documentation and product specification review before purchase.
- EFDA registration workflow for imported food products.
- Traceable import, customs and warehouse records.
- Clear escalation process for product quality or safety concerns.
Contact
Open a dialogue with Jimcharo Trading.
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