According to the Ethiopian Constitution land is public property. Hence, land cannot be sold or exchanged. However, investors, foreign or local, have the right to use urban and rural land on lease or rental basis respectively.

Rural land is rented mainly for agriculture with low rental price. On the other hand, urban land is allocated on the basis of lease for industrial investments and other purposes.

In areas open for foreign investment, any investment made between domestic and foreign investors is a joint investment, and there is no minimum equity share requirement for local partners in a joint investment.