Dear Alan,
This is really interesting: We never met even though I lived in Jordan for more than four years and drove a Pajero!
Last autumn I travelled from Jordan through Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia without any problems (unfortunately I did not have the time to go as far as Ethiopia). Only in Egypt did I need an octane booster since in some oasis only 80 octane was available. Most of the time, 90 or even 95 octane was available, though.
I would not worry too much about fuel in Ethiopia: gasoline in Jordan has a far worse quality than is officially pretended: The "95" quality in Jordan has only 88 octane in reality. The fuel in Ethiopia will not be worse. What I heard from colleagues is basically only that fuel is "enriched" with 10 per cent of Ethanol in Ethiopia but even that doesn't do any harm.
This link gives you a first idea about the availability of fuel in Ethiopia:
NOC Station Locator | National Oil Ethiopia
Please keep in mind that this is only one of several companies in the country. The situation is becoming better all the time, especially with the current economic boom in Ethiopia (though this comes - take the land grabbing for instance - at a price).
To cut a long story short: I would always opt for the additional fuel tank or a few jerry cans on the roof rack :-)
Greetings
Achim
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