Revisiting Company Law with the Advent of Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX): An Overview

Abstract

The historical development of the law of companies shows that this area of the law is evolving and continually changing based on the level of economic development. The law directly dealing with companies, the 1960 Commercial Code of Ethiopia, seems to limit the scope of the law of companies only to private limited companies and share companies, save the partnerships included in the Code. This is a very narrow approach as it leaves out public enterprises simply because they are not recognized under the Code. This article examines the salient features of company law and argues in favour of a broader understanding of the concept. As such, the article vets the main features of private limited companies, share companies, public enterprises and The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange) ECX and shows how the advent of the ECX has challenged the frontiers of the existing legal framework of Ethiopian law of companies. The study argues that ECX is a unique “hybrid-model” which can neither be categorized as a registered company nor as a public enterprise (statutory company) thereby enhancing the challenge to the frontiers of company law as envisaged in the 1960 Commercial Code of Ethiopia.

Key words: Company law, public enterprise, Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), public-private partnership, hybrid-model company