Australian ASX-listed resources companies frequently move into African jurisdictions, but Ethiopia remains one of the less common destinations. Following a general election in June 2026 that re-installed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for a second term, the government has continued its mission of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country. Ethiopia is Africa's second most populous nation, and the government has in recent years pursued economic reforms – including a 2024 International Monetary Fund-supported program and a parallel external debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework – aimed at stabilising the economy and reopening it to foreign capital.

Ethiopia is a jurisdiction worth watching. A little-known fact is that the country is home to Africa's largest sovereign wealth fund, Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH). EIH is one of the major entities used by the Ahmed government – of the pro-business Prosperity Party, formed in 2019 from a coalition of historical parties – to establish and advance Ethiopia's strategic monetary focus on welcoming FDI and locking in value from projects based within its own borders.

In December 2025, EIH made a US$3 million investment into gold miner Akobo Minerals, which is listed on European markets and operates inside Ethiopia. The strategy draws comparison with Norway's wealth fund, which is well known for redirecting oil production profits back into strategic investments that shore up the sovereign security of the country's treasury and overall wealth.

The Akobo investment is not the only development of note. Over the last several years, largely unnoticed by Western media, Ethiopia has been reshaping its resources regulatory landscape and processes, with an emphasis on streamlining permits. A reported uptick in exploration activity has defined 2026.

As in most countries, Ethiopia is not governed solely at the federal level – state-level and hyperlocal institutions and regulators also oversee activities within the country. Several large-scale projects are currently advancing through the Ethiopian regulatory ecosystem, and where large companies go and succeed, smaller companies with a high risk tolerance tend to follow. That includes some exploration companies on the ASX.

Within the African context, where the continent is still largely perceived as a collection of developing countries, establishing productive relationships with overhead government authorities is essential for any mining company. This is particularly true for foreign-owned companies entering the country and delivering the same FDI that the recently re-elected pro-business Prosperity Party is seeking.

Those relationships are multi-tiered in nature. Ethiopia's Ministry of Mines is not the be-all-and-end-all of the country's mining regulators, meaning any company operating in the region must navigate permitting and approvals at the local and state levels. Ethiopia's federal structure formally devolves significant authority to ethnically based regional states, a constitutional arrangement dating back to the 1990s that shapes how mining approvals are handled in practice.

A real-world example of an ASX-listed exploration company currently doing just that in modern Ethiopia is Askari Metals (ASX:AS2).

Askari Metals currently has two major projects under development in Ethiopia. Its Nejo project is a copper-gold play – both metals being obvious beneficiaries of a still-ongoing commodities supercycle – while the separate pureplay gold Adola Greenstone Belt Project is another asset in the company's portfolio.

The company is currently focused on acquiring the permits and regulatory approvals needed to move ahead with drilling on both projects, and this is where relationship building with local authorities comes into play.

While the Ethiopian Minister for the Ministry of Mines, Habtamu Tegegne, was recently re-installed in that role after the June 2026 general election, the wider Ethiopian government landscape has seen a number of high-level personnel changes in recent months. That includes local levels in the state-level jurisdiction where Askari operates, as well as the country's House of Representatives, a key decision-making body in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

"As with any project in Ethiopia, community engagement and local stakeholder consultation form an important part of the process," Askari Metals Founder and Executive Director Gino D'Anna told HotCopper. "While Hon. Habtamu remains in place as the Federal Minister of Mines, there are also changes occurring at other levels of government-related organisations."

"The first is at the Oromia Regional Government and [Oromia Mineral Development Authority (OMDA)] level," D'Anna added, referencing the area where the company's main activities are currently located. Regional governments – the 'state-level' authorities – have been pushing for greater independence from the federal government on mining leases in recent times.

D'Anna also spoke of Ethiopia's community governments, which effectively award self-determination to the country's vast array of ethnic groups.

"The second is at the local community level," D'Anna said. "Alignment across all three levels of government and related organisations remains important … [Askari's] key operational and stakeholder engagement frameworks are being established to support future activity across both projects."

With Askari demonstrating a clear desire to engage with local authorities across different levels of government – including a focus on local employment, meetings with community leaders, and dialogue around infrastructure and services needs – work at the Nejo and Adola Greenstone Belt projects continues to advance, D'Anna confirmed to HotCopper.

"The key building blocks are largely in place … access, accommodation, workforce planning, supply chains and field logistics are all being considered as part of that process to minimise delays and support effective execution on the ground," he said. "From an operational perspective … drilling capacity, contractor availability and logistics are all being coordinated to support future exploration activities."

Amid the conditions of mid-2026, of particular interest to risk-tolerant investors is Askari's potential exposure to economic copper deposits at Nejo, more so than gold. Copper is up over 45% over the last twelve months, outstripping gold's twelve-month returns – a factor that also underscores why BHP's strategic copper pivot has underpinned its recent run of fresh all-time-high valuations. Copper's strength has been underpinned by global electrification, grid build-out and data-centre-driven power demand, themes that major miners have cited in reweighting portfolios toward the red metal.