FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS FORTUNE AUDIO TRADE AFRICA new

Fortune Logo


Nov 27 , 2022 . By AKSAH ITALO

Truculent Foreign Banks, Fragile Industry, Bullish Central Bank

Zemedeneh Negatu, an investment consultant, had his team approached by boards of directors and senior executives of 10 private banks a few months ago. For two decades, he made his name working as a partner for Ernst & Young, one of the four global accounting firms based in London. Leaving the fi...

Nov 19 , 2022 . By BERSABEH GEBRE

Tramadol: Narcotics Clouding a Generation

The 17-year-old student sat on the chair wearing an oversized black hoodie that swallowed his stature. He was in the Principal's office with a bruised face and red eyes. His lips were trembling, and his hands were shaking. Speaking, his voice betrayed him, revealing the nervousness he felt inside. Although he was not in pain then, he started taking Tramadol, medicine doctors prescribed to treat moderately severe pain, a year ago. The student recalled his first experience with six of his classmates, each taking two capsules of Tramadol, hoping to get relief from the afternoon classes they fe...


Nov 12 , 2022 . By MUNIR SHEMSU

Desperate & Despairing

On a broad range of plots on Gabon St. (stretching between Meskel Flower to Agona Cinema) lie a foundation for a five-storey building, one of many construction project sites left idle. They seem to remind passersby of a time of distress. Labourers were hardly visible as activities ceased; the usual loading and unloading of construction inputs, the noise of trucks mixing and transporting cement, and the howl from heavy machinery were quiet. In front of the skeletons of a structure, over 50 daily labourers were gathered in an area designated to them - almost by default - ready to run and seiz...


Nov 5 , 2022 . By RAHEL BOGALE and MUNIR SHEMSU

Melancholy Businesses Pick Up the Rubble

Small business owners in Merkato, Africa's largest open market space, were dumbfounded by the sudden gridlock of transactions two weeks ago. It was in the aftermath of a consequential decision by federal authorities to cap imports of a long list of goods. Imposed three weeks ago by the Ministry of Finance and central bank officials, the fateful decision has added a burden to the already depressed business mood in the city. The lively streets were idle - the usually vibrant young men now sluggish, leaning on vehicles and fiddling with their hair. Shops were open but with few products scatter...

Agenda

Oct 22 , 2022

HOPE OR HYPE?

Farming was a calling to Getachew Tessema, who left his hometown Wonji, central Ethiopia, 54 years ago in search of work. Years later, he landed in Afar Regional State and slowly got enough resources...

Oct 15 , 2022

Ethiopia on Edge Fraught with Default Risks

Amidst alarmingly low foreign exchange reserves, a flock of senior Ethiopian officials on the economic front were in Washington D.C. last week, pleading for the resumption of external debt restricting...

Oct 8 , 2022

Worried Students, Apprehensive Parents, Bullish Education Officials

Hundreds of thousands of students will sit for the national exams across the country but in a significantly changed arrangement leaving their families anxious. Unlike before, students leaving high sch...

Oct 1 , 2022

Forex Troubles Dip to New Lows

The irony could not have been lost on Abel, in his late 20s, whenever he goes around the National Theater, on Gambia St., searching for forex dealers. Less than a kilometre is the headquarters of the...

Sep 24 , 2022

Less than Sweet: Sugar Troubles Far from Over

On a hot, sunny morning last week, three saleswomen inside a narrow container in Addis Abeba's Aqaqi-Qality District were in a rush to serve a long queue formed outside. The stuffy metal container...

Sep 18 , 2022

Back to School. At What Cost?

The vast, green lawn inside the premises of Ghion Hotel was crammed with parents and children last week. A bazaar targeted these families with little time to run around Addis Abeba looking for school...

Sep 10 , 2022

Consumers Hang on Despite Turbulent Holiday Market

The narrow streets of Shola, one of the largest trading hubs in Addis Abeba, were crowded with shoppers. Packed with hundreds, if not thousands, of traders selling food and non-food items, the market...

Sep 10 , 2022

Inflation Overshadows Holiday Fair Comebacks

It has been a year since Mesqel Square reclaimed its place as the capital's favourite site for public gatherings and popular functions. It reopened after a lengthy facelift cost taxpayers a whopping ...

Aug 27 , 2022

Banking Industry Battles Festering Fraud as Clients Swindled Savings

A three-storey building on Mozambique Street, around Mexico Square, was packed with appeared aggrieved. A taller man was navigating through the congested hallway on the first floor, appearing nervous...

Aug 20 , 2022

Digitalization Disappoints in Drawn-out Trade License Procedures

It was thought to be less of the usual hustle and bustle as Gebremeskel Chala, minister of Trade & Regional Integration (MoTRI), pledged transformed services when the online trade registration and...

Aug 14 , 2022

Agenda: Domestic Smartphone Assemblers Dial it In

The roads leading to Megenagna were crowded and hectic as ever. Street vendors selling a flurry of consumer goods such as clothes and shoes were an inconvenience for the innumerable pedestrians attemp...

Aug 6 , 2022

Deluge & Disaster

It is one of the seven rivers that flow across Addis Ababa, snaking its way down from the hills of Yeka to a new neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital - Goro. The narrow streets along the rive...

Jul 30 , 2022

Electric Cars Turn Heads as Fuel Costs Climb

The seats and ambience inside are expectedly comfortable, with typically clean minimalist touches. The cabin feels eerily silent, free from the roaring sounds of an engine and the whistling of a turbo...

Jul 23 , 2022

The Eternal Public Housing Saga

The Bole Bulbula area depicted a typical rural scene not so long ago. It was flush with open swathes of farmland dotted with a few modest homes sparsely inhabited. The rustic setting has changed drama...

Jul 17 , 2022

The Great Scramble for Skilled Labour

It barely resembles a conventional bank that clients in Ethiopia are accustomed to. The place is as plush as a hotel lobby, framed by large windows and adorned with luminous lights casting white and y...

Jul 9 , 2022

Authorities in Disarray, Desperate Operators Exacerbate Public Transport Ordeal

Addis Abeba's taxi terminals are up and going long before most of the city's residents awake from their slumber. At 6:00am on a drizzly, cold morning last week, a terminal near the Adey Abeba area...


Most read

Columns

Commentaries | Nov 26,2022

Fairer Green Finance Against Climate Change

Life Matters | Nov 26,2022

Uncalled Judgment Exposes a Materialist Society

My Opinion | Nov 26,2022

Trending Rule of Law to Shape a Better Attitude

Sunday with Eden | Nov 26,2022

Amid Talent Dearth, Investment Promotion Falters

Agenda | Nov 27,2022

Truculent Foreign Banks, Fragile Industry, Bullish Central Bank

Editorial | Nov 26,2022

To Liberalize Finance Holy, Regulating It Is Divine


         ADVERTISEMENT

Read More

To Liberalize Finance Holy, Regulating It Is Divine

In the wake of the liberalization of the telecom sector, Ethiopian authorities have made a...

Editorial | Nov 26 , 2022

UNCLOTTING CITY ONE STROKE AT A TIME

A tarmac road on the hill from the CMC roundabout to the Wossen roundabout displays a gia...

Featured | Nov 12 , 2022 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW and Molla Mitiku,

Truculent Foreign Banks, Fragile Industry, Bullish Central Bank

Zemedeneh Negatu, an investment consultant, had his team approached by boards of directors...

Agenda | Nov 27 , 2022 . By AKSAH ITALO

Truculent Foreign Banks, Fragile Industry, Bullish Central Bank

The entry by foreign-owned banks and non-nationals into the financial sector has reached a...

Fortune News | Nov 26 , 2022