Frequently Asked Questions

What is 2merkato tenders service?

It is a service provided by the popular Ethiopian business portal, 2merkato.com. We collect tender notices from all the major newspapers, organization websites, and organizations that post directly on 2merkato.com. We organize the announcements and sort them by category, company, newspaper, and region before we post it on our website. Users can access the tender service using username and password provided by us; they can receive email alerts of tenders which correspond to the category of their choice, etc. In a nutshell, it is a service designed to make your life easier and your business more successful so far as tenders go.

How can 2merkato tenders service help me?

It can help you track local and international tenders floated and published in Ethiopia. You can be more organized; you can track tenders posted in the country without the need to purchase every newspaper in the country; you can stop worrying about missing a tender notice because your assistant or you have not seen it in this or that newspaper; etc.

What makes you different from the other [tender posting] websites?

  • We provide free access to tender summaries.
  • Our tender platform is unique in its filtering mechanism. Users can filter tenders by a specific newspaper, a specific date or range of dates, region, language, and category.
  • We publish tenders in four languages: Amharic, Oromiffa, Tigirigna, and English
  • UN organizations (UNICEF, UNECA, UNDP), GIZ, and other NGOs and international organizations directly post their tender notices even before the notices are published in newspapers. Some even upload the tender documents on 2merkato.
  • We have a unique 5 step quality assurance and control to avoid any misses.
  • 2merkato.com is not only a tender posting website; it also provides other services such as business directory, business news, other business information, and advertisement services. You can get all the information you need from participating in tenders to business rules and regulations, Ethiopian business contacts, etc.

How can I start using your service?

To start using the tender service and get full access:

  • Please register, activate your account, place an order, then make the required payment (for users in Ethiopia, you can follow the instructions found below and foreign users can pay online).
  • Or you can contact us via email, phone or you can stop by our office. Our address information is listed below. We will get you set up.

Can I try your service without paying?

You can fully access the tender notices which are marked "Free to Access" for free. You can also subscribe free to our tender alert email service which contains limited information, or see tender previews by going to our website. However, to access the full feature of our tender service, you have to pay an annual subscription fee.

How can I pay for your service? What payment options do you offer?

You can use one of the following options to make payment:

You can come to our office:

Full address and contact details:

Mega Building (Bole Road), 4th floor, Office No. 413 
Addis Ababa, 
Phone: 251 11 5545696, +251 11 558939; 
Fax:251-11-5540692; 
Mobile: 251 901 313131 , 251 930 105437
Call Center Number: 6131

We can send someone to your office (Once you send us your full address and TIN number).

You can make a bank transfer/deposit at one of our bank accounts:

  1. Abyssinia Bank, Olympia Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No:  8837837
  2. Awash Bank, Africa Avenue Branch,  Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 01325099994900
  3. Berhan Bank, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 2500010043376
  4. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 1000070583538
  5. Dashen Bank, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 0012909926006
  6. Hibret (United) Bank, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 1061816026303018
  7. NIB Bank, Peacock Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 7000005822373  
  8. Lion Bank, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 00110351345-44
  9. Wegagen Bank, Bole Branch, Company Name: Ebiz Online Solutions PLC, Account No: 794573/C01/526

If you are in a foreign country, you can pay online on 2checkout.com using your credit card or PayPal – following the instruction found on the payment page: http://tender.2merkato.com/payment

Do I get a receipt for my payment?

Yes. For users who pay in Ethiopia, we issue a VAT receipt. For users who are outside of Ethiopia and pay through credit card/ PayPal on 2checkout.com, 2checkout.com will issue an e-invoice. Once we receive the payment, we will issue a VAT receipt to 2checkout.com.

Can you give me a discount?

As it is, ours is a heavily discounted price. Imagine how much you would spend if you were to buy all the newspapers, not to mention the time you spend sifting through all those papers.

How many categories can I subscribe to? Is the payment per category?

You can subscribe to as many categories as you want and the payment is not per category, it does not vary.

Do you offer a half-year subscription?

Yes, we offer a quarter year (3 months) and half year (6 months) subscription. Please check our pricing page.

Does the annual subscription mean it is for the budget year or for one year period starting from the subscription date?

Annual subscription means one year starting from the date of subscription. For example: If you subscribe on 28 November 2014, you can use the service till 27 November 2015. Therefore, to continue using the service, you will have to renew the contract on or before 28 November 2015.

I have registered but my account has not been activated. What should I do?

To make sure that the email address you entered while registering with us is correct (i.e., there are no errors as in typo) and belongs to you, we send a confirmation email to the address you provide. You must click on the link in the email message in order to activate your newly created account.

 

In some cases, the confirmation email may not be found in your inbox and end up in your spam or junk folder. Hence, check your spam or junk folder as well. To learn how to make sure your 2merkato.com alerts do not get spammed, please refer to our video guide as well for mobile devices and for desktop.

Please note that if you use Gmail, our confirmation email will most likely end up in the spam folder. We are aware of the problem and we are trying to find a solution for it.

If you did all the above and still have not found our email, please call us on one of our support phone numbers (6131, +251 930 105437, +251901313131) and we will activate it for you.

I lost my password. Can you help me?

You can reset your password by clicking on forgot password on the log-in page. When you do, you will be asked to enter the email address for your account and a verification code will be sent to you. Once you have received the verification code, you will be able to choose a new password for your account.

The other option is to contact us, send us your email address, and we will reset it for you.

I am a paying subscriber, but when I try to log in it says "upgrade your account."

In most cases, this happens when you have more than one account registered with us and you try to use your free account to access the service. When this happens, please get in touch with our support team. We will fix the problem for you.

I am a paying subscriber but I have not received any alert.

  • First, make sure you have subscribed to at least one category if you have not yet subscribed.
  • If you already have subscribed to a category or categories of your choice and still have not received any email in your INBOX, please check your SPAM or JUNK folder. In the case of GMAIL, please also check under your ALL MAIL tab other than your primary INBOX.
  • Please make sure that the Subscription Status in the tender Alert Subscription page is ON.
  • Please also make sure that you have selected the correct language preference. The default is BOTH (Amharic and English). If you select Amharic, for example, only Amharic tenders are sent to your email.

Where do I get tender notices?

We get tender notices from all major Amharic and English newspapers and regional newspapers in Amharic, Oromiffa, and Tigirigna; organizations such as the UN, GIZ send us their notices directly to us (you have a chance to see notices even before they are published in newspapers). We get procurement notices, requests for proposals, expressions of interest and requests for quotations from all major Amharic and English newspapers and regional newspapers in Amharic, Oromiffa, and Tigirigna published in Ethiopia.

I like your service but I am concerned that I might miss important tenders if I were to rely only on your service. How can I trust your service?

We have a dedicated team for tender notice sourcing, data encoding, editing, and quality control. We have a five-step quality and accuracy control system that can help us identify and correct errors. Although we cannot give you a 100% guarantee that you will not miss any tender published in the country, our coverage is very close to 100% and our track record so far proves it.

I am a busy businessperson, I do not sit in front of a computer often. How can I still benefit from your service?

Our Tender website is mobile friendly and can be accessed from any mobile device. In fact, more than 50% of our users browse our website from their mobile phones. You can also download our mobile app from here for Android phones.

My internet connection is not reliable or very slow. How can your service help me?

  • We have phone support and you can call and check if we have new tenders for you.
  • Since our Tender service is mobile-friendly, you can easily access the service from your mobile provided you have a mobile phone with an internet connection.
  • You can download our mobile app from here for Android phones and download the tenders when you have wifi internet access and read the tenders offline.

I represent a foreign company and I want to participate in tenders in Ethiopia. Can you help me?

You can access our tender service by paying on 2checkout.com by credit card or PayPal. If you need more information on how to participate in tenders in Ethiopia, please check out I am a foreign supplier. How can I participate in a tender in Ethiopia?

Do you provide the tender/bidding document?

No. But if you are in a foreign country, we can suggest to you service providers who can collect the tender/bidding document on your behalf.

What else do you offer besides the tender service?

2merkato.com is an all-encompassing business portal providing integrated information on Ethiopian business. The tender service is but one of the services it provides. We publish business news daily. We have a B2B platform in the form of a business directory where one can find and do business with Ethiopian businesses and foreign suppliers in Ethiopia. You can have your business featured in the directory and you will significantly increase the likeliness of getting business opportunities from Ethiopia and beyond. For a strong online exposure, you can advertise your products or services on the banner spaces we give on 2merkato.com.

Last modified 23-11-2020