How to Call Ethiopia from the US

Every call from the US to Ethiopia follows the same three parts, in this order: a + (or the US exit code 011), then the country code 251, then the Ethiopian national number. The + and 011 both tell your phone or carrier that you're dialing internationally — they do the same job, just written differently depending on whether you're calling from a mobile phone or a landline.

One detail trips people up more than any other: if you have the number written the way it's used locally in Ethiopia, it usually starts with a 0. That leading 0 gets dropped as soon as you add +251 in front of it — the country code replaces the 0, it doesn't sit alongside it. Getting this one step wrong is behind most failed or invalid-number errors people run into when dialing Ethiopia for the first time.

• Ethiopian mobile written locally: 09XX XXX XXX

• From a US mobile: +251 9XX XXX XXX

• From a US landline: 011 251 9XX XXX XXX

Once you've converted a number correctly, it stays correct — there's no need to re-check it every time you call the same contact.

1. Open your phone's dialer.

2. Enter +251. On most mobile phones, typing + (usually by holding down 0) replaces the need to dial an exit code separately.

3. Add the Ethiopian number without its leading 0.

4. Start the call.

Charges for a call dialed this way come from your own carrier and plan, and they're not the same for everyone — some US plans include international minutes to certain countries, others charge a separate international rate per minute. Check your plan before assuming what a call to Ethiopia will actually cost you.

1. Dial 011 — the US exit code for international calls from a landline.

2. Dial 251 — the Ethiopia country code.

3. Dial the Ethiopian number without its leading 0.

As with mobile, the cost of a standard international call from a landline depends on your own phone or carrier plan, so it's worth checking what your provider charges for calls to Ethiopia specifically before you rely on this method regularly.

If manually converting numbers to international format isn't something you want to do every time you want to talk to someone, ethioCall skips that step entirely. You call an Ethiopian mobile number by selecting a contact in the app, not by typing +251 or 011 yourself, and there's nothing to double-check before you dial.

1. Download ethioCall.

2. Register with your regular mobile number.

3. Activate the welcome plan, or choose a paid plan.

4. Select an Ethiopian contact.

5. Call.

ethioCall rates start from 10¢/min. The person you're calling doesn't need the app or an internet connection — they get a normal call on their phone, the same as any other incoming call. Calls work to mobile numbers across Ethiopia. See Ethiopia calling rates for the full set of plans.

Call with ethioCall

To call through ethioCall, you'll need:

• A compatible smartphone.

• ethioCall installed.

• A regular mobile number to register with.

• A stable Wi-Fi, 4G, or 5G connection.

• Available minutes — either the welcome plan or a paid plan.

On the other end, the person in Ethiopia just needs an ordinary mobile phone. No app, account, or internet connection required on their side — the call simply rings like any other.

Adding +251 but keeping the leading 0. This produces an invalid number. Drop the 0 right after the country code, not before it — the two shouldn't appear together.

Using 011 and + in the same number. These are two different ways of signaling an international call — pick one, not both, or the call won't go through as dialed.

Dialing a locally saved number without converting it. A number saved in the 09XX XXX XXX format won't connect internationally as-is. Convert it to +251 9XX XXX XXX (or 011 251 9XX XXX XXX from a landline) before you call.

Calling through ethioCall with an unstable data connection. Calls made over the app depend on your Wi-Fi, 4G, or 5G signal. A weak or dropping connection is the most common cause of a call that won't go through or keeps cutting out mid-conversation.

Trying to call before activating the welcome plan or a paid plan. The app needs an active welcome plan or paid plan before it can place a call — activate one first, then dial your contact.

Selecting an incomplete or incorrectly saved contact number. A contact saved with a missing digit or an extra 0 will fail to connect, even with the app open. Double-check the number before calling, especially for contacts saved a while ago that may have been entered incorrectly to begin with.