TotalEnergies is preparing to exit Ethiopia’s fuel retail market by selling its network of around 120 service stations to OLA Energy, formerly OiLibya, in a deal that would hand one of the country’s most recognisable international fuel brands to a pan-African operator already deeply embedded in the market.
Africa Business first reported that the French energy major has reached an agreement with OLA Energy on the transaction. Neither company has publicly confirmed the deal, and the value has not been disclosed.
TotalEnergies has operated in Ethiopia since 1950, building a retail presence that its own materials describe as the country’s third-largest fuel network. The company’s global country profile lists approximately 120 service stations, while its local Ethiopian website puts the figure at 143 — offering fuel sales alongside oil change, tyre service, car wash, café, and mini-shop services.
OLA Energy, which rebranded from OiLibya, is already one of Ethiopia’s established fuel marketers. Across the continent, the company operates 1,350 service stations, 175 convenience stores, and 161 cafés and restaurants, giving it the scale and infrastructure to absorb TotalEnergies’ Ethiopian footprint with relative ease.
The acquisition would further consolidate a downstream sector already dominated by a small group of large distributors — National Oil Ethiopia, OLA Energy, TotalEnergies, and Yetebaberut. Ethiopia’s fuel retail environment has grown more complex in recent years, with high import costs, periodic retail price adjustments, and tighter regulation over fuel distribution and digital payments at stations placing pressure on margins and operational models.
The reported sale fits a pattern of TotalEnergies rationalising its global retail exposure. The company has previously reduced or exited service station businesses in Brazil, Pakistan, and parts of Europe, directing its marketing and services strategy towards geographies where it holds high market share and can generate stronger returns.
More broadly, the transaction — if confirmed and approved by Ethiopian regulators — would mark another step in the gradual withdrawal of foreign oil majors from conventional fuel retail across Africa. That retreat is reshaping downstream ownership structures on the continent, with pan-African operators and regional players increasingly filling the space left behind, even as demand for petroleum products remains tightly linked to transport, logistics, and industrial activity.
For Ethiopia, the shift carries particular weight. The country’s fuel sector sits at the intersection of infrastructure development, import dependency, and regulatory reform — making ownership changes in distribution networks consequential beyond the commercial transaction itself.
The deal has not been formally announced by either party and remains subject to regulatory.
