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National Bank Forces Anbesa Bank Board Re-run, All Incumbents Out

National Bank Forces Anbesa Bank Board Re-run, All Incumbents Out

Anbesa Bank has elected an entirely new board of directors, nine months after the Board it replaces, following regulators' rejection of that earlier vote. Officials of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) ordered a fresh election under their watchful...

Aug 9 , 2026

Fortune News

The Hotel That Housed the OAU Meets the Wrecking Ball

Ethiopia Hotel, one of the country's oldest hospitality establishments and a landmark on Yohannes St., has begun to come down, marking the start of a major redevelopment of the historic property. D...

Aug 9 , 2026

News Analysis

Central Bank Reforms Under Pressure as Import Bills Climb

Ethiopia's external accounts are under renewed pressure as the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) moves to unwind its premium-based role in the artisanal gold market. It has also locked in an interest-ra...

Jul 19 , 2026

Money Market Watch

Brewed Buck Holds Its Nerve, or Its Breath

The Birr (the Brewed Buck) has held an improbable calm last week. Even though the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) ran no foreign-exchange auction for weeks, the official market moved only fractionally...

Aug 9 , 2026

Latest Updates

Power Utility Spends Past Its Record Year

The state utility company, the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU), spent hundreds of billions of Birr...

Aug 9 , 2026

Right-sizing Tests Addis Abeba University’s Promise for Autonomy

Addis Abeba University set out to win its institutional autonomy. Two years in, that freedom has cos...

Aug 1 , 2026

Shipping Lines Charts Biggest-Ever Fleet Plan After Buying None Planned for the Year

The state-owned Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics (ESL) unveiled its most ambitious fleet plan yet...

Aug 1 , 2026

Ethiopian Eyes Bigger on Cargo as Costs Outrun Record Revenue

The Ethiopian Airlines Group (EAG) will take delivery of eight Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 next week...

Agenda

The Storm Passed, the Freight Bill Did Not

A year after a violent storm tore through one of Ethiopia's major flower-growing clusters, Vegpro Flower Farm Plc has clawed its way back from the wreckage, only to face a fresh pressure point. Soaring freight costs are now squeezing exporters who we...

Aug 9 , 2026

Tax Bills Outrun the Metre, Stalling Taxi-hailing Drivers

Elbeletel Tilahun was among the ride-hailing drivers startled by this year's tax assessment. Behind the wheel of a Vitz, he was told to settle 93,000 Br in i...

Aug 1 , 2026

Shematera Weavers' Chain Meets the VAT Line

The footsteps, bargaining voices and rustle of cotton cloth that once filled Shematera in Mercato have faded. The narrow passages that used to carry customer...

Jul 25 , 2026

OPEN FOR AD

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Editorial

In Going Digital, the State Designs for the Citizen It Wants to Have

The World Bank asks readers to picture a mother in rural Ethiopia who has never held a bank account, now able to borrow to start a small business. It also asks them to envision a homeless, internally displaced person in Addis Abeba, stripped of every...

Aug 8 , 2026

The Rains May Fail, Policy Dare Not

Weldu Yiheysh has not read the Pacific temperature charts. He does not need to. In Shibta District of Enderta Wereda, in the Tigray Regional State, the farmer was still waiting two weeks ago to sow the crops that should feed his family. Much of the District...

Jul 31 , 2026

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Exclusive Interview

Africa's Open Skies Fail If Governments Keep Taxing Travellers Off the Runway

Fortune: The African Union has made SAATM a priority for next year. Are you happy with the way the project is being handled by the AU and AFCAC? Kamil Al-Awadhi: The AU is talking about SAATM as a priority, but I do not think it will work the way it is being handled now. The AU nominated the proj...

Jun 7 , 2026

Britain Wants Ethiopia to Stop Being an Aid Case and Become a Climate Power

Fortune: Given the United Kingdom's long history with Ethiopia, is there a change of view about its role in East Africa's economic and climate future? McLoughlin: We are recalibrating our approach in recognition of Ethiopia's increased importance, particula...

May 3 , 2026

EZEMA'S New Leader on Elections, Youth Apathy and the Constitution

Fortune: Have you voted before? Eyob Mesafint: Yes. I have voted since I was 18. Q: How does the current electoral climate compared with the past? Under the EPRDF, except in 2005, elections were largely nominal and predictable. Opposition leaders expe...

Apr 10 , 2026

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Viewpoint

The Sea the Instrument, the Position the Prize

Ethiopia's renewed pursuit of maritime access has pulled the Red Sea back to the centre of regional and domestic debate. Yet the debate keeps circling the wrong question. It is framed by historical entitlement, sovereignty, nationalism, and access to a port. Those questions indeed matter politically. But they also obscure a larger transformation, and mistake the instrument for the thing it serv...

Aug 9 , 2026

A Visa Bond Tests Character, But Then Wealth Status

An Ethiopian mother hoping to watch her daughter graduate in the United States (US) now has to clear two tests, not one. First, she has to persuade a consular officer that her trip is temporary, that she can pay for it, and that she has compelling reasons t...

Aug 8 , 2026

Dialogue Over Division the Generation's Test

There are moments in a country's history when its leaders have to rise above political division and act in the national interest. I believe Ethiopia has reached such a moment. Years of armed conflict, polarisation, economic hardship, inflation and widesprea...

Jul 31 , 2026

My Opinion

The Hidden Dollar Bill Behind Every App

Digital transformation is gaining pace here. New startups are emerging, public services are moving online, and businesses are reaching for technology-driven tools. Yet beneath the excitement over innovation sits a structural problem that draws little attention. It is the rising cost of Application Programming Interfaces, the APIs that let one piece of software talk to another. In the digital...

Aug 8 , 2026

Ethiopia Built the Rooms. Now Fund the Startups

Supporting startups has become fashionable. Public institutions host them, universities are opening innovation hubs, and private companies are giving over office space to entrepreneurs. The Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute (EAII) has handed a fiv...

Jul 31 , 2026

From Digitisation to Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has become one of the defining features of institutional modernisation in Ethiopia. Public entities, private firms, universities, banks and service providers increasingly rely on digital systems to automate processes, improve efficiency...

Jul 25 , 2026

Featured

SMALL-NOTES SQUEEZE WORN, TORN, NEVER RETURNED

For Hirut Ayalew, a small shop owner around Ferensay Legasiyon, the shortage of usable small-denomination notes has become a daily headache. She sometimes turns customers away, or lets them take goods on informal credit, simply because she cannot make change. The torn and faded 10 Br notes moving through shops, taxis, bars and street markets are more than a sign of careless handling. They are inflation made physical, the residue of money that changes hands far too fast, and of a banking syste...

Aug 1 , 2026

Commentaries

Energy Never Consumed, the Cheapest Megawatt

When the energy bill jumps, the reflex is to buy a way out of it. Factories, commercial buildings, and residential complexes reach first for a cheaper source, switching from imported fuel to grid electricity or biomass. Some simply pass the higher cost on to their customers. All these responses could be expensive, slow, and skip the question that should come first. How much of that energy is being wasted before anyone pays for it? The cheapest megawatt is the one never consumed, and it...

Aug 8 , 2026

News Analysis

Central Bank Reforms Under Pressure as Import Bills Climb

Ethiopia's external accounts are under renewed pressure as the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) moves to unwind its premium-based role in the artisanal gold market. It has also locked in an interest-rate-anchored monetary regime, even as the war in the Middle East lifts fuel and fertiliser import bills and keeps foreign-exchange backlogs high. The balance-of-payments position weakened throughout the 2025/26 fiscal year, and policymakers are now leaning on tighter monetary policy, gold-market r...

Jul 19 , 2026

Delicate Number

128

The number of registered mobile money accounts, alongside more than 57 million Telebirr subscribers and 9.6 trillion Br in digital transactions during 2024. The "Digital Ethiopia 2030" strategy document puts Ethiopia’s entire population at 130 million. Taken at face value, almost one mobile-money account for every Ethiopian, including infants and people without phones, despite persistent rural, literacy and connectivity gaps. However, one person may hold accounts with Telebirr, M-Pesa and other providers; dormant accounts remain counted; and multiple SIMs can generate multiple registrations. According to the National Bank of Ethiopia's (NBE) data released in March 2025, only about 46pc of adults had access to formal financial services by the end of 2023.

Aug 8 , 2026

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

"Ethiopia has already securitised [the] lack of access to [the] sea."

Kenea Yadeta (PhD), former defence minister and currently national security advisor to the Prime Minister, spoke of Ethiopia's government continued pressure, claiming a place in the Red Sea geopolitical arena.

View From Arada

Resolutions That Fade Before the Adey Abeba Bloosoms

As the summer of the year under the Ethiopic calendar draws to a close in less than two months, I cannot help but wonder about the New Year's resolutions I made when it began. Like many p...

Aug 8 , 2026

Films Review

Nope

Few would have imagined that the Peele in Key & Peele, a show on MTV's Comedy Central, would become a world-class director reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher. There is a sketch from Key & Peele, titled Town Hall Audience Member, one of the funniest outputs of the show, where Jordan Peele shows some promise as he acts entirely with his eyes to peak comedic effect. Other than that, at least to this author's eyes, there is nothing to indicate cinematic genius or even a great...

Sep 17 , 2022

RRR: PEAK OF BOLLYWOOD, FOR BETTER OR WORSE

Bollywood has finally peaked. The sentimentalism, chirpy musical numbers, physics-defying fight scenes and aggressively cheesy romantic plots have all come into their own in RRR, one of the biggest Bollywood hits in recent memory to gain an international audience. I would normally object to individual elements of the movie, including its ludicrous storyline and plot holes. But the way they have come together is strangely fascinating. RRR, which is short for “Rise, Roar, Revolt" and must be...

Sep 10 , 2022

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Sunday With Eden

Ten Years at the Gate, a Dream That Never Stood Still

Last Sunday, my family gathered for what was meant to be a simple farewell. There was food on the table, laughter filling the room, and a decorated cake waiting to be cut. But this was no ordinary goodbye. We were celebrating Saber Adem, a man who had spent more than a decade guarding our family home. His journey says a great deal about perseverance and the courage to dream. Some stories unf...

Aug 8 , 2026

What Every Parent Really Asks in Children Education

Every parent shares the dream of seeing their children grow into knowledgeable, responsible and successful adults. Education is the foundation of that dream. Yet for many families across Addis Abeba today, choosing the right school has become one of the mos...

Jul 31 , 2026

A Celebration of Love Where Tradition Met Presence

In an age when weddings are often planned as much for the camera as for the couple, I attended a ceremony over the weekend that felt like a quiet departure from the norm. There were no photographers weaving between tables, no guests holding phones above the...

Jul 25 , 2026

Life Matters

Children Fall. Some Parents Detonate

As an overprotective mother, I know that sudden and cold knot in the stomach all too well. It is the feeling that hits the second I realise a child is hurt, when I hear the sharp cry. My mind races through every worst case. Worse still is the waiting when they are at school. I might only learn of an injury hours later, as a child comes home with a tear-stained face and a bandage I did not put t...

Aug 8 , 2026

The Fear I Learn to Let Go Of

Every time a sudden loud noise comes from our living room, my heart stops. I drop whatever I am doing and run, certain someone is crying or has broken a bone. But there are never any tears. My husband is on the floor, my son is jumping on his back, and my d...

Jul 31 , 2026

Parents Dreams Meet the Reality of the Classroom

I suppose I should not be surprised by the immense value our society places on education. It is reflected in the sayings we hear throughout our lives, phrases so deeply woven into everyday conversation that they shape how we think about success, opportunity, a...

Jul 25 , 2026

Radar

Tariff Reform Powers EEP Revenue to 119 Billion Br

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) collected 119 billion Br in revenue during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, up 57.8pc from the previous year, while recording a gross profit of 39.5 billion Br. The performance comes as the utility faces public scrutiny over a multi-year electricity tariff reform. EEP achieved 92pc of its 129.8 billion Br revenue target. It attributed the performance to improved revenue...

Aug 9 , 2026

Tariff Reform Powers EEP Revenue to 119 Billion Br

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) collected 119 billion Br in revenue during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, up 57.8pc from the previous year, while recording a gross profit of 39.5 billion Br. The performance comes as the utility faces public scrutiny over a multi-year electricity tariff reform. EEP achieved 92pc of its 129.8 billion Br revenue target. It attributed the performance to improved revenue...

Aug 9 , 2026

In Picture

IMPERIAL WITNESS

Excavated earth now surrounds the gilded bronze Lion of Judah Monument near Legehar (La Gare) railway station on Ras Mekonnen Avenue, as preparations get underway to move the monument 60 metres backward to make way for road-widening works. Nothing on the monument itself will change; it will be carefully relocated intact, continuing to face the Addis Abeba Municipality Office. Standing atop a black...

Aug 9 , 2026

WHEELED EVOLUTION

A bike lane once foreign to Addis Abeba is now busy serving its intended purpose, and then some. Along African Avenue, beside the walls of the Skylight Hotel, a man rides a small electric scooter while another pushes a two-wheeled wheelbarrow loaded with cement sacks along the same lane. Intended exclusively for cyclists, the lane has become an unlikely meeting point for two forms of wheeled trans...

Aug 9 , 2026