PHANTOM SUMMERS


PHANTOM SUMMERS

Youth around the Bole area brush a hopeful hew to the grey highways. With as little as three percent out of a million high school graduates passing the college entry exams this year, gloomy horizons are cast at professional prospects to the youth. The  Minister of Health Lia Tadesse (MD) recently suggested that more youth are gravitating to substance abuse due to conflicts in several parts of the country, at the opening ceremony of an addiction rehabilitation centre. One in seven males in Ethiopia was indicated as being a regular smoker of Tobacco, and as many as five percent were users of cannabis, according to a study conducted by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute and World Health Organization (WHO).

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Radar

New Directive Tightens Rules for Foreign Employment Agencies

The Ministry of Labour & Skills has issued a directive under the Ethiopian foreign employment framework, setting clear standards for agency size, capital, and operations. Depending on their level, newly established agencies can serve between 10 and over 100 workers a day. Office space requirements range from 100sqm to 700sqm, tied to operational scale. Level-one agencies must hold a paid-up capital of 20 million Br and place a security deposit of 250,000 dollars or its birr equivalent...


Radar

Audit Findings Expose Deepening Gaps in Accountability

A new study reveals that audit irregularities in Ethiopia have continued to rise year after year, driven by weak enforcement and unresolved legacy problems. The finding, commissioned by the Office of the Federal Auditor General (OFAG) and conducted by independent researchers from Addis Abeba University, examined audit reports covering 2009–2023. The study attributes the persistent irregularities to limited accountability, poor follow-up, and reduced audit coverage during political transitio...


Radar

Africa Maritime Conference Sets Sights on Seafaring Innovation

The Ministry of Transport & Logistics has launched the first-ever Africa Maritime Conference, marking a bold move to position landlocked Ethiopia as a continental hub for seafaring innovation at a time of global talent shortages. At a pre-conference briefing, Frans Joubert, CEO of YCF Manning Ltd, underscored Africa's untapped potential in the maritime sector. Of the 1.9 million seafarers worldwide, only four percent are African—despite the continent hosting around 150 maritime academie...