How to Choose Someone to Handle Your Affairs in Ethiopia

You have four real choices for someone to handle your affairs in Ethiopia: a family member or friend, an informal go-between, an advocate, or a company that does this work for a fee. Each one is the right answer for some jobs and the wrong one for others. This guide sets out what each costs you, what Ethiopian law expects of anyone who acts for you, and what to check before you hand over your papers.

We are one of the companies in the fourth group, so read our part with that in mind. Every claim we make about ourselves links to the page that shows it.

First, decide what kind of job it is

Most jobs are office steps. Someone collects a certificate, lodges a paper that is already signed, pays the office's fee and brings back the receipt. Which of the four can do a given step under your power of attorney depends on the office and on the job.

Some jobs are legal. Ethiopian law defines advocacy broadly. It plainly covers advice on your rights, drafting legal documents and representing you in court. It says no person may provide advocacy without a licence (Proclamation No. 1249/2021, Articles 2 and 4). Only an advocate can do that part for a fee. A company like ours cannot, and a go-between cannot either. If you are unsure which side a step falls on, ask an advocate.

Many jobs mix the two. A property sale has office steps and legal steps. Split the job before you choose, and you may find you need two people, not one.

The rules that bind anyone who acts for you

Whoever you choose, the Civil Code of 1960 sets the same duties for an agent. These apply to your brother as much as to a company.

• The agent must act with the strictest good faith toward you (Article 2208).
• The agent must act only in your interest, and may not profit from the job without your knowledge (Article 2209).
• The agent must account to you for all money received (Article 2210), and give you an account of the work at any time you ask (Article 2213).
• The agent must do the job in person, unless you allowed someone else to step in (Article 2215).

One rule is different for unpaid help. Article 2211 says an agent who works without pay is liable only if he took less care of your affairs than of his own. A paid agent, relative or not, is held to the care of a careful head of a family, which is the higher standard.

None of this tells you what your own power of attorney should say. That is a question for an advocate you hire directly.

Option 1: A family member or friend

This is the most common choice, and often the right one.

You know the person. They usually charge nothing. They may already know the office, the neighbourhood or the tenant. Ethiopian law lets certain close relatives represent you without charge and without an advocacy licence. That covers a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, brother or sister, or a spouse's parent (Proclamation No. 1249/2021, Article 5).

The cost is time. Offices keep working hours, and your relative may have a job. Queues can take days, and favours run out. If something goes wrong, raising it can strain the family. Many people never ask a relative for receipts, so they never see where the money went.

A relative is the right answer when the job is simple or one-off and the person has the time and wants to help. It is also right when the job needs someone who knows your family's history in a way no outsider can.

Agree before the work starts that you get a receipt or a photo for every fee paid. That protects your relative as much as you.

Option 2: An informal go-between

Every large office has people who know how it works and will run your errand for cash. Many are honest and good at it. In Amharic you may hear such a person called a delala, a word that also covers property brokers.

They know the counters, the forms and the queues. They are easy to find, and the price may be low.

The weak points are paper ones. There is often no written price, no written scope and no receipt for their own fee. You may not know who actually does the work. Article 2215 of the Civil Code expects the agent you named to act in person, unless you allowed a substitute. If the person you paid passes the job to someone else, ask who, before it happens.

Walk away from anyone who offers to make an office move faster for extra money, or who says they know someone inside. That holds for every option on this page, ours included.

If a go-between offers to find you a lawyer for a commission, say no. The law requires an advocate to provide the service without an intermediary (Proclamation No. 1249/2021, Article 23; Article 2 defines an intermediary).

Option 3: An advocate

An advocate is a lawyer licensed to practise. For any legal part of your job, this is the person you need.

Only an advocate may give you legal advice for a fee, draft legal documents for you or represent you in court. The law also gives you protections. An advocate must make a written contract with you, except for brief legal advice. It must state the total fee, how and when it is paid, and what the service covers (Article 23). The advocate may not ask for more than that contract says.

Advocates charge for legal skill. Paying one to stand in a queue for a birth certificate may cost more than the errand is worth.

Before you pay, ask to see the licence. The law tells the Federal Attorney General to keep a register of licensed advocates and law firms, and to make that information open to the public (Article 17). Ask the office that issued the licence how to check a name, and get the written contract first.

Option 4: A company that does this for a fee

Some companies run administrative errands for people abroad, at a set price per task. We are one of them.

A good one gives you a written scope and a price before you pay, uses its own staff in the city, and shows you proof of each step. Check that a company does all three before you choose it.

On the other side, you pay a fee that a relative would not charge. A company that is not a law firm cannot give legal advice or draft your legal documents. You will still need an advocate for that part. And no company can make a government office act faster.

Before you pay, ask for its business registration and its business licence, and what activity the licence covers. Ask whether its prices are published or quoted case by case. Ask what proof you get when a task closes. Ask what happens if it misses a date it gave you. And ask how it handles money: who pays the official fee, and whether you get the office's own receipt.

A quick way to compare

1. Is any part of the job legal advice, drafting or court? That part goes to an advocate, whoever does the rest.
2. Is it a one-off errand, with someone you trust who has the time? A family member is often the best choice.
3. Do you need a written price, a written scope and receipts? Ask for all three, from whoever you choose. If one is missing, ask why.
4. Does anyone promise speed or connections? Walk away.

Whoever you choose: limit what you hand over

The paper that lets someone act for you in Ethiopia is a power of attorney. The Civil Code says a power given in general terms covers acts of management only (Article 2203). Selling or mortgaging property, making gifts or going to court needs special authority (Article 2205). You may restrict or revoke the power at any time (Articles 2183 and 2226).

Our guides on how to send a power of attorney to Ethiopia and how to revoke, limit or replace one set out the official steps. Which powers your job needs, and how to word them, is for you and your advocate.

Where Agar fits

We do the office side of the job. We do not give legal advice or appear before any court (what we do and do not do), and we do not draft documents for you.

• Every service fee for a listed task is on our price list. Official fees are passed on at cost, with the office's own receipt.
• Every task closes with proof: photos taken where the work happened, and scans of each official receipt. Our how it works page shows the four kinds.
• Each task names the person who does the work. It is not passed to an unnamed middleman (how it works).
• Our refund rule, as it appears on the price list: "Service fee refunded if SLA missed for causes within Agar's control."

Most work starts with a power of attorney that names us. Our POA representation page shows what we do under one.

POA intake + DARS registration + first action: USD 119.

Our timeline (5 business days from POA receipt) covers our own steps only: from the day your documents reach us to the day we lodge your stamped power of attorney with DARS for registration. The office's own processing time is not published and is not part of it.

Proof on closing: scanned official receipt, scan of the stamped document, geotagged pickup photo.

That fee is ours alone. Official government fees are separate, and are passed on at cost with the receipt. We add nothing to them.

"Service fee refunded if SLA missed for causes within Agar's control."

What we do not do

We do not give legal advice or appear before a court (our POA page says the same). We do not draft powers of attorney or any other legal document.

We do not collect money owed to you, hold it, or pass it on to anyone, even if your power of attorney allows it.

Nobody can make an office act sooner than it does, including us. We do not promise to change official processing times (how it works).

Sources

• Civil Code of the Empire of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 165/1960. Articles 2208 to 2211, 2213 and 2215 on an agent's duties; Articles 2183, 2203, 2205 and 2226 on scope and revocation. Checked 16 October 2026.
• Federal Advocacy Service Licensing and Administration Proclamation No. 1249/2021. Advocacy service and intermediary (Article 2), no advocacy without a licence (Article 4), relatives who may represent without charge (Article 5), the register (Article 17), the written contract and the ban on intermediaries (Article 23). Checked 16 October 2026.

Note: both law texts are unofficial copies. The Federal Negarit Gazette is the official text.