Business

COMESA Review Looms Over OLA–TotalEnergies Ethiopia Deal

AI SUMMARY

Regional competition regulators are reviewing OLA Energy’s proposed acquisition of TotalEnergies' downstream petroleum business in Ethiopia.

OLA Energy signed an agreement on June 30, 2026, in Paris to acquire the entire downstream business of TotalEnergies Marketing Ethiopia.
The transaction includes more than 120 service stations in major cities such as Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Mekelle.
The proposed takeover also covers ten storage assets, logistics infrastructure, aviation fuel services at Bole International Airport, and lubricants operations.
Strategic assets include a 13,000-cubic-metre fuel storage terminal in Dukem.
The acquisition would end TotalEnergies' approximately 76 years of direct involvement in Ethiopia's downstream petroleum market since 1950.
Sources indicate the transaction has entered a COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission review process due to market concentration concerns.
The merged business could potentially account for close to 50 percent of Ethiopia's retail fuel market.
COMESA's merger-control process can result in unconditional approval, conditional approval, or rejection.