Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise, ACBSE or Anbessa is a state-owned public transport operator headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Name
"Anbessa" means lion in Amharic. Lions were a significant symbol for the monarchy at the time, which led to many institutions being named after them. Ato Teferi Shamo named Anbessa, shortly after its formal establishment. In 2023, after nearly 80 years of service, the enterprise dropped the name and is now called "city bus" However, existing vehicles still retain the name on their exterior.
History
Anbessa started its operations by converting trucks left behind by the Italians after their occupation of Ethiopia. It operated informally until 1948 when The Anbessa City Bus service started as a share company owned by Emperor Haile Selassie, some state owned companies and members of the royal family. It had 40 Italian drivers and mechanics with 80 Ethiopian trainee recruits.
The first livery of Anbessa buses was green and yellow, inspired by the colors of the Ethiopian flag and had only two routes:
The leaping lion logo, used by the enterprise for much of its history, was designed by an Italian artist.
In a rebranding, Anbessa shifted its livery to the current yellow and red, based the lower two bands of the Ethiopian flag. Although this is contested by some claiming it is based on the jersey of Saint George Football club.