Agenda

FORTUNE+ VIDEO JOBS SPONSORED CONTENTS FORTUNE AUDIO TRADE AFRICA new

COVID-19 UPDATES: All the stories and commentaries on Coronavirus, in one place

November 20 , 2021 . By SAMUEL BOGALE

It's Tax Season! Uncle Sam Struggles to Meet Target

October and November are hectic months for those employed by the civil service working in revenue bureaus throughout the country. It is tax season, with the deadline set on November 9th. For tax officials and taxpayers alike, it is a period to be dreaded. The seemingly unending queues in what are of...

October 16 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI

Banks Miss Deadline, Mergers Prove Unattainable

Residing in a country with no capital market, an organised marketplace for trading securities and shares, Bereket Haile, 32, uses social media platforms to buy and sell shares, particularly banks. He finds they have a higher rate of return than most other sectors. Having a background in civil society work, he has over 22,000 network connections on Linkedin. When the financial sector was flooded by new entrants rushing to join the banking industry, Bereket did not hesitate to react quickly. He had hoped to make a profit when the value of the shares appreciates. He acquired stakes in eight ba...

October 9 , 2021 . By SAMUEL BOGALE

The Rising Living Cost Amid Futile Crackdown on Businesses

It did not take much time for Ageze Moges, 25, to get a job when he moved to Addis Abeba six years ago. Relocating to the capital from the Gurage zone, he found work as a casual worker serving shops in Mercato. No sooner, he had moved to the Teklehaimanot neighbourhood, making a living porting metal products for the many stores in the area catering to the construction industry. It was not a bad start, Ageze recalled. He worked nearly every day and saved most of what he had made - up to 300 Br a day. In his second year, he went back home visiting family, with supplies, gifts and household it...

October 17 , 2021

Construction: The Unpropitious Outcome

It was a cold morning, and the temperature was below 10 degrees celsius. Drivers were wearing sleepy expressions as they whizzed by the streets of Sengatera, an area blossoming into Addis Abeba's financial district. The Wall Street of the capital in the making. A kilometre farther, on Ras Desta Damtew Street in the same neighbourhood, dozens of youth stood nonchalantly below the towering figure of Ethiopia’s tallest building, soon to be the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). They were waiting to be picked up for odd jobs by the China State Construction Engineering Corp...

Agenda

September 18 , 2021

COVID-19 Third Wave Comes Crashing Down

On the sunny afternoon of Wednesday last week, roughly 50 health personnel on duty at Millennium Hall, once a venue for festivity, were rushing to the patient wards through the donning area. Every inc...

September 10 , 2021

Live Music Makes Big Comeback

In the Atlas neighbourhood, cash notes are part of the decorative scene on a stage in Mimi’s Addis, a popular restaurant and lounge on Namibia Street. Seemingly oblivious to the money at his feet, A...

September 4 , 2021

Dancing with Inflation, Central Bank Grip Tightens

The past year has been all but dull for the authorities at the central bank and executives of the banking industry. The first was busily churning out directives, the latter frantic about coping with a...

August 28 , 2021

Property Market Grinds to Halt

The streets of Addis Abeba are as varied as they are many, although too many of them have yet to be named. From the narrow alleyways of the old Piassa to the boulevards of contemporary Bole and the be...

August 21 , 2021

Coffee Exports Climb, Industry Players Cheer Reforms

When Tamiru Tadesse came to Addis Abeba almost nine years ago, he was determined to pursue post-graduate studies in control engineering, a subject he spent two years teaching his students at Debre Ber...

August 14 , 2021

Businesses See Abrupt Central Bank Decision Counterproductive

The sky was gloomy; it was a cloudy afternoon last week. The typical August weather of fog and chill was reflected in the mood of the city residents, such as Shewaminale Mekonnen, the chief financial...

August 7 , 2021

Out in the Cold, Clothing Market Takes a Hit

It was a freezing rainy day last week; the loud music and busy sidewalks in the Piassa area were in stark contrast to the exceptionally chilly weather that has gripped Addis Abeba this rainy season. U...

July 31 , 2021

Crackdowns on Hotel Properties Leave Workers Dismayed

It is a tiny dwelling made of corrugated iron near the Gerji Mebrat Hail area, Bole District. For Aster Tsegaye, a 30-year-old woman, it is home. Working as a housekeeper in one of the hotels locat...

July 24 , 2021

Import's Wild-Wild West

This year has been anything but a good year for Gabriela Esayas, a businesswoman who started a few years ago. Ordinarily, she would import goods up to three times a year. Not having been approved a...

July 18 , 2021

Deposit Mobilisation Barely Keeping Up With Cash Hoarding, Inflation

A businessman trading in electronics, Abel never thought he would be burdened in making timely payments for suppliers. Running a store in Mercato, he has a weekly turnover of somewhere around 800,000...

July 11 , 2021

Trouble Tying Construction Firms with Banks, Insurance Looms Large

Established over two decades ago when a handful of businesspeople were interested in joining the construction industry, Afro-Tsion Construction Plc started a business with a capital of 50,000 Br. Toda...

July 3 , 2021

Starting Business Never Gets Easier

Finding a job in the Ethiopian labour market had been all but a pleasant experience for Lamesgen Wubshet, a graduate of computer engineering from Meqelle University. He spent three years in search aft...

June 26 , 2021

In the Shadow of War, Voters Give Electoral Verdict

This past Monday was the second time Belay Zerihun, a second-time voter, has had to stand in a long queue over the past couple of months. The first time was in early May when he went to get his voter...

June 19 , 2021

How Could This Happen?

A mother of three, Netsanet Hadgu, usually buys consumer goods once a month. However, when her family goes through those goods faster than she thought, the 42-year-old widow prefers to walk to the nea...

June 12 , 2021

With the New Budget Bill Comes Deficit Financing Fear

The central bank released its much-anticipated report for the second quarter last week, albeit it did so almost five months later than it was initially expected to. It was not like any other, covering...

June 5 , 2021

The Great Bank Rush for Digital Gold

For domestic businesses with a robust presence in the global market, the inability to accept small online payments from international customers remains beyond incomprehensible. It is a frustrating ord...

Columns

Commentaries | Nov 20,2021

Truce - Desirable, Useful and Attainable!

Leaders of the warring parties in Ethiopia`s year-old militarised conflict may think they...

Editorial | November 20 , 2021

Public Apathy Impairs COVID-19 Vax Drive

Pedestrians passing by the St. George Cathedral in Piassa a couple of weeks ago could noti...

Featured | November 13 , 2021 . By SAMUEL BOGALE

It's Tax Season! Uncle Sam Struggles to Meet Target

October and November are hectic months for those employed by the civil service working in...

Agenda | November 20 , 2021 . By SAMUEL BOGALE

A TAX SEASON FOR ATROPHIED ECONOMY

As October and November rolled in, so did the tax season, when tax officials and businesse...

Fortune News | November 20 , 2021

Drop us a message

Or see contact page

COVID-19 UPDATES: All the stories and commentaries on Coronavirus, in one place

It's Tax Season! Uncle Sam Struggles to Meet Target

Banks Miss Deadline, Mergers Prove Unattainable

The Rising Living Cost Amid Futile Crackdown on Businesses