Terms and Conditions

1. Agreement

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of the Ethio Business website and services. By browsing the directory, creating an account, submitting a listing, or advertising with us, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

If you use the site on behalf of a company, you confirm that you have authority to bind that company.

2. The service

Ethio Business is an online directory of businesses in Ethiopia. We host listings, related products, services and projects, and business news. We do not sell the goods or services described on third-party listings, and we are not a party to deals between visitors and listed companies.

We may change, pause, or discontinue features. We do not guarantee that every listing is complete, current, or error-free.

3. Accounts

You must provide accurate registration details and keep your password confidential. You are responsible for activity on your account. Notify us at once if you think someone else has used it.

We may refuse, suspend, or close accounts that break these Terms, appear fraudulent, or put other users at risk.

4. Business listings

When you submit a listing you confirm that:

• You are authorised to represent that business.
• The information is accurate and not misleading.
• You have the right to use any logos, photos, and text you upload.
• Contact details are genuine and may be shown publicly.

We may review, edit, refuse, or remove listings that are incomplete, illegal, offensive, spam, impersonation, or otherwise unsuitable. A “verified” badge means we have carried out a review; it is not a guarantee of the company’s quality, credit, or licences.

You must keep your listing reasonably up to date. You must not use another business’s identity or scrape the directory to build a competing dataset.

5. Plans and payments

Some features, including creating or promoting listings, may require a paid plan. Prices, limits, and features are shown on the pricing page and may change for future billing periods. Fees already paid are generally non-refundable except where Ethiopian consumer law requires otherwise, or where we decide a refund is fair.

If a payment fails we may downgrade or suspend paid features until the account is in good standing.

6. Acceptable use

You must not:

• Break Ethiopian law or another applicable law.
• Upload malware, scrape the site aggressively, or overload our systems.
• Post hate, harassment, pornography, or content that infringes others’ rights.
• Send spam or collect other users’ contact details for unsolicited marketing.
• Interfere with ads, security, or other people’s accounts.
• Present Ethio Business as endorsing your company beyond the listing itself.

7. Intellectual property

The Ethio Business name, logo, design, and software belong to us or our licensors. You may not copy the site design or reuse our branding without written permission.

You keep ownership of content you submit. You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, display, index, and promote that content as part of the directory, including in search results and social previews, for as long as the listing remains on the service.

8. Third-party sites and ads

Listings may contain links to other websites. Ads may be served by Google AdSense or other partners. Those sites and ads have their own terms and privacy practices. We are not responsible for them.

9. Disclaimer

The directory is provided “as is”. To the fullest extent allowed by law we disclaim warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, uninterrupted access, and accuracy of listing data. Visitors should make their own checks before dealing with a listed business.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by Ethiopian law, Ethio Business and its operators are not liable for lost profits, lost data, indirect or consequential loss, or disputes between visitors and listed companies. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid us for the service in the three months before the claim, or 1,000 ETB if you have not paid us.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, including for fraud or death or personal injury caused by negligence where that rule applies.

11. Indemnity

You will indemnify Ethio Business against claims, damages, and reasonable costs arising from your listing, your content, or your breach of these Terms.

12. Termination

You may stop using the service and ask us to close your account. We may remove content or terminate access immediately if you breach these Terms. Sections that should survive (including intellectual property, disclaimers, and limitation of liability) remain in force.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Courts in Addis Ababa have exclusive jurisdiction, except that we may seek injunctive relief in any forum to protect our rights.

14. Changes

We may update these Terms. We will change the “last updated” date on this page. If you continue to use the site after a change, you accept the new Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the service and may close your account.

15. Contact

For questions about these Terms, email hello@merkato.app or write to Ethio Business, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.