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DEFYING BARRIERS


A curtain has unceremoniously descended over the online landscape in an increasingly digitised Ethiopia. Four relentless months have passed since the federal government imposed a policy to curtail access to social media sites like Facebook, TikTok,...

Jun 3 , 2023


Fortune News

High-Stakes Land Auctions Resurge in Addis Ababa after a Half-Decade Hiatus

Addis Abeba's City Administration resumed land auctions after a five-year lull. The auctions witnessed high participation and record bids. However, it was not always the highest bids that won; in many...

Jun 3 , 2023

Fortune News

Forex Crunch Brings No Takers in Edible Oil Bid

A federal agency invitation to procure a large volume of edible oil found itself without a bidder. The lack of interest was attributed to the country's foreign currency crunch, adding to a slew of cha...

Jun 3 , 2023

Fortune News

Mayor's Office Calls Hospitality Sector for Discourse

Public events in the capital foresee a regulatory framework as the Addis Abeba Mayor's Office works the legislative ground. Officials at the Mayor's Office hope to ensure safety measures and crowd...

Jun 3 , 2023


Latest Updates

Trade Bureau Salvages Unbridled Street Vendors

A bill that compels street vendors in Addis Abeba to wear lanyard badges featuring their name, tradi...

Jun 3 , 2023


Borena Zone Embarks on Arduous Walk to Hydration

Officials hope to mitigate the impacts of drought on the wide livestock population of Borena Zone, O...

Jun 3 , 2023








Agenda

Social Media Restrictions Spur Unlikely Success in Digital Marketing

It has been four devastating months since the federal government's intelligence system blocked access to certain websites. The use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) has become compulsatory to access social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok...

Jun 3 , 2023


Moving Woes

In the bustling streets of Addis Abeba, an undercurrent of unease shadows the necessary act of moving house. Siyoum Haile, a civil servant at a federal agency a...

May 27 , 2023


Private Schools Price Accession, Repercussions of High Inflation

On a rainy afternoon last week, Tesfalem Hailu, 48, was waiting by the door to pick his two children up from School of Tomorrow, Bole Michael branch. Tesfale...

May 20 , 2023







Editorial

A Million Dollar Question for a Likely Trillion Birr Budget

At the hub of Ethiopia's fiscal planning on King George VI Street, the country's budget formulation wheels for the upcoming fiscal year are now in full swing. Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and his cadre of planning experts are tasked with the formidab...

Jun 3 , 2023


Banks Ride the Waves of Change Grappling with Growth, Risk

Tauted as a somnolent giant, Ethiopia's financial scene now stirs, roused by favourable demographics, geostrategic position and untapped markets, offering a tantalising prospect for growth. An incessant swell in GDP and a population bulge that is youthful and...

May 27 , 2023

An African Paradox: Mediating Foreign Wars While Ignoring Homegrown Turmoils

The pungent irony wafting from Pretoria last week was hard to miss. Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, grandly announced a peace mission to Moscow and Kyiv, offering to mediate the end of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This comes with notable colleag...

May 20 , 2023







Exclusive Interview

A Minimum Wage Law Warrants Some Dignity

Fortune: How has the labour movement evolved through its tumultuous half-a-century history? Kassahun Follo: The beginning of the worker's union was completely different from its current state. During the formative stages of the movement almost sixty years ago, there was no right to organize, barg...

Apr 29 , 2023


Count on France and the Paris Club

Fortune: What principles and guidelines does the Paris Club follow when dealing with debt relief for long-term and debt-burdened developing countries like Ethiopia? William Roos: It is an informal group of official creditors of rich countries from OECD and...

Apr 22 , 2023

Apprehending Global Shifts in Climate Change

Q: It has been almost 35 years since the IPCC was born. How has your understanding of climate change over the past few decades evolved? What are the most significant findings that have shaped your current position? Jean-Pascal van Yspersele: One of the key...

Apr 15 , 2023







Viewpoint

Ethiopia's Battle Beyond Borders: How Facebook's Content Crisis Fuels Real-World Conflict

The 17th Internet Governance Forum, a United Nations initiative that champions international cooperation to enhance Internet accessibility, was inaugurated by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) in November last year. A hint of irony coated the event, hosted by a country notorious for its extensive internet shutdowns and social media restrictions in favour of its ruling party. In his ope...

Jun 4 , 2023


Ethiopia's Internet Shutdowns Choke Its Economy, Freedom

Asilent war is being waged in Ethiopia, one that is suffocating the life out of the internet, subjugating the free flow of information, and choking the economy in the process. Ethiopia's onslaught on digital liberty is not unique, but it is becoming notorio...

May 27 , 2023

The Dream and the Dilemma of Africa's Single Currency

It is an ambitious plan that sees the African Union (AU) striving to create a single currency for the continent, marking a crucial part of its economic integration strategy. The initiative, crafted within the broader design of the Abuja Treaty of 1991, aspires...

May 27 , 2023


My Opinion

Globalization's Warring Narratives

Globalization brings the world together by moving people, things, ideas, money, and much else. But talk of globalization has become increasingly divisive, with competing assessments of the process now splitting the globalized world. While middle-income countries – emerging markets – remain gung-ho about tapping into global markets and globalization-driven dynamism, and many low-income count...

Jun 3 , 2023


Backsliding on Maternal Mortality

In 2020, an estimated 287,000 women died in pregnancy, childbirth, or soon after delivering, according to the latest data from the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group, which includes the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This...

May 27 , 2023

Halftime But Nowhere Near Halfway

The world faces many challenges, including the impacts of inflation and high-interest rates, the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic, and geopolitical conflicts such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Amid all this, this year marks the halftime point for the...

May 20 , 2023






Featured

Persistent Price Increase Strangles Holiday Consumers

Abdulkarim Murad, 23, vehemently bargains the price of sandals with the vibrant vendor that matches the energy while simultaneously dealing with many customers. He arrived at the Merkato area with plans to buy a holiday gift for his father. He recalls the same type of pair was sold for 1,400 Br a couple of months ago when he bought one for himself, accusing the vendor of attempting to garner windfall profits by capitalizing on the holiday demand. The vendor argues that the price hike should n...

Apr 22 , 2023


Commentaries

Ethiopia's Silent Turn to Austerity While Attempting Economic Liberalisation

In the animating landscape of Ethiopia's economic reality, an increasingly fervent trend towards the free market is palpable. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's (PhD) administration has ushered in an era of unprecedented privatisation and liberalisation. Prime on the list of actions is the privatisation of the telecommunications sector, the “golden goose”, and the relaxing restrictions on foreign investment in the financial sector, the veritable arteries of capital flow in a nation. Beneath the...

Jun 3 , 2023


News Analysis

Abay Insurance Flourishes Amidst Currency Woes, Rising Costs

Abay Insurance's upswing in profit and impressive earnings per share (EPS) growth last year was marked by foreign currency shortages, rising costs and violent conflicts affecting the industry. The company's net profit climbed by 55pc to 105.05 million Br, rewarding shareholders with 60 Br more EPS than the previous year's 250 Br. These results positioned Abay Insurance between its peers, Ethiopia Life & General Insurance and Oromia Insurance, in an increasingly competitive industry. Th...

May 6 , 2023


Delicate Number

29,386,649,000

The value of treasury bonds in Birr that commercial banks bought from the central bank between December 2022 and April 2023. The amount the banks buy monthly has dropped by more than half within this period.  

May 27 , 2023


Fineline

Leaders of the National . . .

Leaders of the National Election Board are in a charm offensive mood, of a sort. Last week, they organised a rare tour for members of the media, showcasing what polling stations will look like during the upcoming national elections; and they took the...

Oct 3 , 2020


Verbatim

“We live in a world of unprecedented destructiveness.”

Henry Kissinger, America’s legendary diplomat and scholar of international affairs, told The Economist about the risks humanity faces from the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).






Fortune Video




Sunday With Eden

Adoption: A Boon in Disguise

I am acquainted with several young parents who decided to adopt children from non-governmental institutions. The process involved a six-month rigorous screening and selection for adopting the infants. The prospective parents were only allowed to choose the gender of the infant they would adopt. Their emotional and financial preparedness to take sole custody and provide a loving home for four...

Jun 3 , 2023


The Road to Success is Always Under Construction

A while back, I was asked to cover as a substitute teacher for a friend at her primary school teaching job while she travelled to the United States. The private school around the Bole area had tested my ability with an exam before agreeing to it. The month...

May 27 , 2023

Optimism Despite Prevalence of Poverty

I met a new mother out on the rainy street of Addis Abeba with her infant. She was selling vegetables and roasted corn under a plastic cover to shield themselves from the pouring rain. She gets up early in the morning to buy vegetables and corn from wholes...

May 20 , 2023


Life Matters

Debt Traps Destabilises Small Businesses

I was standing next to a lady at one of our neighbourhood shops. She was arguing with a shopkeeper to get credit, saying she had been a regular customer for years. They kept going back and forth, and he decided to give her credit no longer unless she settled her previous debt. I was surprised by her entitlement. The lady recalled the time she had spent close to 4000 Br and paid for it throug...

May 27 , 2023


Distress of Digital Payment Penetration

I came across an older man who was complaining about the newly founded experience at a gas station. He, among many others, grumbled that the process took longer than expected, especially during the first few weeks of introducing digital fuel transactions. D...

May 20 , 2023

Sugar What?Conservative vs. Liberal Dilemma

I was wishing for the return of the rainy season because the sun was unbearable while I headed to work one afternoon. An intriguing advertisement captured my attention. It insinuated hooking young people with wealthy older men and women, commonly referred t...

May 13 , 2023





Radar

ACRID GROUNDS

A street vendor puts up pepper for sale around the Lideta area. With agricultural produce accounting for the largest share of the nation's GDP at around 40pc, setbacks in the delivery of fertilizer have become a source of strife in rural Ethiopia. Only a third of the scheduled fertilizer of 1.3 million quintals has been distributed into the hands of farmers this year. This is despite the year bein...

Jun 3 , 2023


LOFTY CONSTRUCTS

A painting depicts traditional farming equipment at the Science Museum around the Arat Kilo area. Since the seizing of power by the current administration, large-scale architectural projects marked by grandeur have proliferated across the capital. The satellite city being built in the Yeka mountains, which is set to cost around 600 billion Br, according to the Prime Minister, is one such project y...

Jun 3 , 2023

In Picture

Coffee Train

Tomoca Coffee has opened another outlet inside the La Gare Train Station and is converting an old train car into a café. Open in 1917, the train station is one of the attractions of the city. It will now be part of the La Gare Eagle Hills Project. The removal of the historical Buffet De La Gare inside the train station following the start of the construction had led to an outcry...

Mar 14 , 2021


NEW MESQEL SQUARE

A construction crew, equipment and materials still obscure the progress of the Mesqel Square project. Nonetheless, the fencing that once enveloped the construction site has largely been removed, and the crescent-shaped steps have been installed. Costing 2.5 billion Br, the project is one of many that attempt to rehabilitate parks, public spaces and rivers of Addis Abeba...

Feb 13 , 2021