Ketema Adane Bargecho is the Managing Partner of Ethio Alliance Advocates LLP and leads the firm’s Tax, Customs and Transaction Structuring Practice. He has more than ten years of professional experience advising multinational corporations, domestic companies, investors, NGOs and international organisations on Ethiopian tax, customs, regulatory compliance, and cross-border transactions.
His practice covers direct and indirect tax, including but not limited to corporate income tax, VAT, withholding tax, excise tax, international taxation, transfer pricing and related-party transactions, customs valuation, investment incentives, digital economy taxation, tax treaties and tax dispute resolution. He represents clients before the Review Committee, Tax Appeal Commission, and Ethiopian courts.
He also has strong corporate and transactional experience, advising on mergers, acquisitions, corporate structuring, governance, commercial contracts and regulatory compliance. His sector-focused tax practice spans manufacturing, technology, fintech, telecommunications, aviation, real estate, construction, international trade and import-export businesses, enabling him to integrate tax strategy with clients’ commercial, investment and operational objectives in Ethiopia.
Before entering private practice, Ketema Adane Bargecho served as a Senior Tax Lawyer at the Ethiopian Ministry of Revenue, where he represented the Government of Ethiopia in complex tax disputes involving major domestic and multinational taxpayers. He also helped draft and review national tax and customs directives and provided legal interpretations and technical training to public officials.
His recent work includes substantial tax and customs matters involving transfer pricing, related-party imports, cross-border software and licensing arrangements, customs valuation, and international transactions. Representative matters include a multi-billion tax assessment for Steels Manufacturing Company, which resulted in a significant reduction in assessed liability, and a multi-million tax and customs matter for a major Ethiopian electronics assembler, which also significantly reduced the total liability.
Ketema Adane Bargecho holds LL.M. and LL.B. degrees from Hawassa University and works professionally in English and Amharic.
- Anhui Telecommunications Engineering Co Ltd and ATC Investment PLC – Type of matter: permanent establishment risk, profit attribution, doubles taxation, and cross-border tax dispute. Represented the clients in a major matter connected with the China–Ethiopia National Online Digital Examination System, reducing exposure and supporting project resumption.
- Aarti Steels PLC – Type of matter: corporate income tax, input VAT, cross-border financing charges, bad debt deductibility, and tax assessment dispute. Represented the client in relation to a multi-billion tax assessment, securing a significant reduction in assessed liability.
- Chapa Financial Technologies Share Company – Type of matter: tax structuring, VAT, withholding tax, and fintech regulatory tax advisory. Advised the client on tax and regulatory issues relevant to its digital payment operations.
- DMC Construction PLC and DMC Real State – Type of matter: tax dispute, Tax Review Committee proceedings, and project-related tax exposure. Represented the client in a high-value matter.
- Confidential Multinational Energy Group – Type of matter: tax audit, cross-border financing, related-party service payments, documentary levies, deductibility disputes, and tax controversy. Advised and represented the client in a complex Ethiopian tax audit and dispute as part of a broader risk-management strategy.
- Cross-border project management
- Policy design
- Technology services
- Accounting
- Agriculture
- Aviation
- Automotive
- Banking
- Construction and materials
- Consumer goods and services
- Energy
- Financial services
- Fisheries and aquaculture
- Food and beverage
- Forestry
- Gaming
- Government and public policy
- Healthcare
- Industrials
- Insurance
- Investment management
- Media
- Mining
- Natural resources
- Oil and gas
- Pharmaceutical and life sciences
- Real estate
- Shipping
- Social infrastructure
- Technology and telecommunications
- Tourism
- Transport
- Utilities
- LLM, Commercial Law, Hawassa University, Ethiopia - 2019
- LLB, Hawassa University, Ethiopia - 2016
- Ethiopian Lawyers Association - 2022
- Ethiopian Federal Bar Association - 2022