Melinova Trading finds your supplier, inspects your goods, ships them, and clears them through customs — with our own people standing on the ground in China. You see photographs before the container is loaded. You know the full landed cost before you pay.
No charge. No obligation. We answer in Amharic, English or Chinese.
Money wired to a contact who stopped replying. A container that arrived full of the wrong goods. A duty bill at Modjo that doubled the cost of the shipment. In Ethiopia these are not rare accidents — they are the normal risk of importing from China with nobody accountable at the other end. Melinova exists to remove that risk. Here is exactly how.
You never send the full amount up front. Payment is released in stages tied to things you can verify for yourself: supplier confirmed, goods inspected and photographed, container loaded, cargo cleared. Each stage comes with the document that proves it happened.
Our team physically visits the supplier before you commit — and we check whether it is an actual factory or a trader reselling someone else's work. Before anything is loaded we photograph and video the real goods, count them, and check the specification against your order. You approve from the evidence, not from a promise.
We quote landed cost, not freight cost. Goods, freight, insurance, estimated customs duty, VAT and port handling — worked out and written down before you pay anything, with delivery to your address priced separately so you can see exactly what it costs. HS codes are checked in advance so the declared value and the duty rate hold no surprises at Modjo.
Every stage releases only when something you can verify has happened. Click a stage to see what you receive before you pay it — and what happens if we fail to deliver it.
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A company that wants your money will tell you it is trustworthy. A company that deserves it will tell you how to check. Here is everything you need to verify that Melinova is a real, registered, findable business — using sources that have nothing to do with us.
The goods are in China. You are in Ethiopia. That distance is where importing goes wrong — and it is where Melat has spent more than six years: in Guangzhou, on factory floors and at the port, checking what is actually in the box before it sails.
She negotiates with suppliers in Mandarin, without an interpreter. Anyone who has bought from China through a translator knows those are two different prices.
Restaurants you have eaten in. Businesses you buy from. Construction vehicles working sites around Addis. Those are a few of the things she has brought in, start to finish, for people who never had to leave Ethiopia.
A first order of one pallet gets the same photographs and the same paperwork as a full container.
She is the one who reads what you send.
Most importers stitch together a sourcing agent, a freight forwarder and a clearing agent — three companies who blame each other when something goes wrong. Melinova is all three, so there is only ever one number to call.
Tell us the product. We find factories that actually make it, verify they are manufacturers and not middlemen, negotiate the price in Chinese, and get you samples before you commit to a run.
Before your cargo leaves China, our people open the cartons. Quantity counted, specification checked, defects photographed. You get a dated report with photos and video — and the power to stop the shipment.
Full containers or shared space from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Shanghai and Yiwu, through Djibouti and the Modjo dry port. The cheapest way to move volume, and the route we run most.
For spare parts, samples, electronics, medical supplies and anything where waiting six weeks costs more than the freight does. Guangzhou and Shenzhen into Addis Ababa Bole.
HS classification, declaration, duty and VAT, permits and the paperwork at Djibouti and Modjo. We also obtain the pre-export certificate of conformity in China — which cannot be issued once the container has sailed. We tell you the estimated duty before you buy, not after it has landed.
Buying from six suppliers? Everything comes into our Guangzhou warehouse, gets checked, repacked and shipped as one consignment — then delivered to your address in Addis, Adama, Hawassa, Bahir Dar or anywhere else.
From the moment the container is sealed in Guangzhou, you can follow it yourself — on the carrier's own tracking, with a reference we give you. You are not depending on us to tell you where your cargo is.
These are working ranges from the factory door in China to Modjo or Kality, including customs — add the delivery leg if you want it brought to your address. Anyone who promises you a fixed date months in advance is guessing. We give you a range, then update it with real dates as the shipment moves.
| Mode | Origin | Route | Door-to-door | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea — FCL | Guangzhou · Shenzhen · Ningbo · Shanghai | Djibouti → Modjo → Addis | 35–50 days | Full containers. Lowest cost per unit. |
| Sea — LCL | Guangzhou · Yiwu · Shenzhen | Djibouti → Modjo → Addis | 40–55 days | Smaller volumes. Share a container, share the cost. |
| Air | Guangzhou · Shenzhen | Direct → Addis Ababa Bole | 5–10 days | Urgent stock, spare parts, samples, high value. |
| Air express | Guangzhou · Shenzhen | Courier → Addis Ababa | 3–7 days | Documents and small parcels under 50 kg. |
Note — indicative ranges only, based on typical China–Djibouti–Ethiopia sailings and clearance. Actual transit depends on sailing schedule, port congestion, customs inspection and season.
Where most shipments stall. Transit paperwork, the ERCA declaration, duty assessed on a value that was agreed weeks earlier. We handle the queue, and because the HS codes were settled at quotation stage there is no argument about classification — and if the assessed value moves, you hear it from us before you pay it.
Before you talk to anyone, know your own numbers. Work out how much space your cargo actually takes, what an airline will charge you for, and whether a container makes sense. Then check where a shipment is. Nothing here asks for your details.
Measure the outside of the carton, not the product. If your cartons are different sizes, add a row for each size — that is what a forwarder needs to quote you accurately.
If you are booking whole containers rather than counting cartons, add them here. We will tell you what space and payload that buys, and whether the cartons above fit inside it.
Volume is L × W × H ÷ 1,000,000 per carton · air is billed on the greater of actual and volumetric weight (÷ 6,000) · sea LCL per revenue ton. Container figures are usable space and maximum payload, not the box's outside measurement.
Most goods a general trader brings from China carry no excise at all — it is the exception, not the rule. It applies mainly to alcohol, tobacco, sugar, fuel, vehicles and a short list of others.
Paste the container, bill of lading or air waybill number. We check the digit maths instantly, then send you to the carrier's own tracking.
Four letters, seven digits — the last is a check digit, so a mistyped number is caught before you spend an afternoon chasing a shipment that does not exist.
An import agent sitting in Addis is one more message in a chain. When your order goes wrong they forward your complaint to a contact they have never met. We are a taxi ride from the factory.
Our team lives and works in Guangzhou. We walk into the factory, meet the owner, look at the machines and count the cartons ourselves. Problems get solved in person, in Chinese, on the same day.
Nobody should wire the full value of a container to a stranger overseas. Payment is split across the job and released against proof — supplier confirmed, goods inspected, container loaded, cargo delivered. If we stop performing, you stop paying.
Quotation, agreement, inspection report, packing list, bill of lading, customs declaration, delivery note. You keep a copy of every one. If we ever disagree about what was promised, the paper decides it, not the argument.
Freight goes wrong in the details, and details get lost in a second language. Talk to us in Amharic about specification, duty and payment terms, and we will translate it into Chinese at the factory ourselves.
From the free consultation to delivery in Addis — what happens at each stage, what you receive, and exactly what you pay and when.
What if the goods are wrong. What if it is late. What if you disappear with my deposit. The questions people ask us second, after the price.
Duty, the bank permit, verifying a supplier, Incoterms, permits. Every claim sourced and dated, and honest about what we could not verify.
Not ready to talk about an order. You just want to know whether something is even possible, or roughly what it would cost. Message us and get a straight answer.
Message on WhatsApp → One working dayTell us what you want to import and we send back one written number — goods, freight, insurance, estimated duty, VAT and port charges — with the workings shown, and delivery priced separately underneath. Free, and yours to take anywhere.
Send the details → 30 minutesSee who you are dealing with. We can call from the office or from the warehouse floor. Bring your questions about duty, bank permits, suppliers — anything you have been unsure about.
Book a time →Tell us what you are trying to import. We will tell you what it costs, how long it takes, and whether it is worth doing. No charge, and no pressure to book anything afterwards.
