The present members of Efoyta are not seasoned businesspeople with long-standing commercial experience. When we look back about seventy years, around the 1940s, only a few of them had started engaging in small-scale trade, such as working with nets and books.
From the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie through the EPRDF era, trade activity fluctuated — rising and falling over time. By 1992 E.C. (2000 Gregorian calendar), the Merkato area suffered disruption; traders operating in and around regular shops were displaced and scattered.

In Merkato, there were many hardworking and determined individuals who, through diligence and perseverance, expanded their businesses and supported numerous families. However, suddenly, in Yekatit 1984 E.C. (February 1992 G.C.), they were expelled from their trade and forced to leave Merkato. Merkato became deserted. Many fell ill from shock, lost their peace of mind, struggled to provide for their children, and were forced to withdraw them from school.
In response to this injustice — and in search of a solution — they began organizing continuous demonstrations and visiting relevant government offices. As mentioned above, in Sene 1984 E.C., victory achieved through struggle, and the area named “Efoy” (meaning “relief”) was established in recognition of that triumph.

The current Efoyta Bekolfe Market Center Share Company takes its name from this long journey — symbolizing the hard-fought relief and rest attained after years of hardship and struggle.
However, challenges have continued to threaten the sustainability of that “relief.” Among them were:
The company’s bylaws and founding principles not being properly enforced; Failing to move from the allocated site toward active development; Failure to fulfill lease payment obligations; Deviation from the company’s founding business objectives; Lack of transparency in financial income and expenditure processes; Failure to submit annual audit reports to the General Assembly; and Interference by board members in management and secretarial functions.

These issues became the key challenges faced by the Efoyta Bekolfe Market Center Share Company, undermining the spirit and stability of the organization.

After the new executive board was elected by the General Assembly in Hamle 1998 (July 2006), it was able to lead the association by revising the association’s bylaws, restructuring the office, and hiring appropriate professionals; carrying out various activities to safeguard the legal status of the land and move forward to the construction phase; ensuring that shops which were under dispute received resolution; preparing members by convincing them to demolish their shops for the construction; facilitating the issuance of a new site map (karta); creating conditions to obtain financial capacity; and accomplishing many other tasks, thereby solving the challenges that had been encountered.