‘’Abyssinia being without seaports, the external trade is through Massawa (Italian) in the north, Jibuti (French), Zaila and Berbera (british) in the south, and for all these ports Aden is a distributing center. For Tigre and Amhara products Massawa is the best port, for the rest of the empire, Jibuti. For southern Abyssinia, Kaffa and Oromo lands, Harar is the great entrepot, goods being forwarded thence to Jibuti and the other Somaliland ports. There is also a considerable trade with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan through the frontier towns of Rosaires and Gallabat. At the French and British ports there is freedom of trade, but on goods for Abyssinia entering Massawa a discriminating tax is levied if they are not imported from Italy.
The chief articles of export are: coffee, skins, ivory, civet, ostrich feathers, gum, pepper, kat plant, gold, and livestock. The trade in skins is mainly with the United States through Aden; America also takes a large proportion of the coffee exported. For livestock, there is a good trade with Madagascar.’’
[The Encyclopaedia Britannica; A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information; Volume 1, Page 87]
