Addis Mercato

Mercato is the largest open-air market in Africa, covering several square miles and employing an estimated 13,000 people in 7,100 business entities.

[citation needed] The primary merchandise passing through the Merkato is locally grown agricultural products — most notably coffee.

Prior to the current Mercato, there was an open marketplace in Addis Ababa near St. George Church at the site where the City Hall stands now, but it ended with the Italian occupation of the 1930s.

Meanwhile, the Italians restricted the historic St. George Merkato to Europeans, renaming it Piazza, which featured European-style shops that displayed commodities through glass windows.

The Mercato Dijino did not have any plan and gradually grew in width and breadth taking different categorical stocks called "terras".