Using Cash Register in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

5 years ago most people in Ethiopia didn’t know what cash registers are. We just saw them on movies when the actors go to a super market or a store. We thought it was something that was used just to place money in. Nobody thought it was something that we were going to see in Addis Ababa, or any other part of Ethiopia. But things have changed. Almost all medium and big businesses around Addis Ababa
are using cash registers and fiscal printers now. Other than Addis Ababa, we can see cash registers being regularly used in Nazreth (Adama), Debre Zeit (Bishoftu), Jimma, Debre Birhan, Bahir Dar, Gonder, Mekelle and other major cities around Ethiopia.

Most people are against the whole idea of using a cash register until they see the benefit of using it. They will tell you that they don’t like the idea of punching number whenever they make a sale or that the idea of a device in their office that is constantly reporting to ERCA makes their spine tingle. After a couple of months of using the cash register, those people will give a different answer. ‘You pay for what you have earned’ is what most of them say with a smile on their face.
There are many cash register suppliers in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority gives a list of suppliers in a rather small piece of paper. At the time of writing (May 9, 2012), this is the piece of paper I received from the East Addis Ababa Branch (Megenagna, on the way to 24). 

 If you would like to buy a cash register, head on to the nearest Ethiopian revenues and customs authority office and ask for a list of suppliers.