In this windy, bone-cold season where the sun seems to negotiate part to play, the mannequins stand wrapped not for warmth but in a desperate bid to keep the dust at bay. The breeze kicks up its usual drama, sending grit swirling like it has something to prove, and the shopkeepers respond by cocooning their plastic models as if preparing them for an expedition. In their stiff poses, covered from neck to heel, the figures look less like store displays and more like a heavily disguised flash mob waiting for the cue to burst into choreography.
Author: Web Master
PATCH CORNER
Rocks stacked on rocks form what passes for a wall at a small shoe-repair stall tucked under the overhead bridge in Meshualekya adjacent Tilahun Gessesse round about on Ras Biru street. A sheet of heavy-duty plastic serves as the roof, doing its best to shield the space from the fierce sun and the surprise showers. Above the stall, the soles of long-retired shoes hang in uneven rows. They are not there for decoration; they work harder than any billboard, quietly reminding passersby that help is available the next time a favourite pair starts falling apart. The setup may look improvised, but it delivers its message with the kind of confidence only a veteran street business can pull off.
DOWN FALLS
A man stands with his hands locked behind his back, the universal posture of deep disappointment, as he studies the metal-sheet wall in front of him, a structure clearly assembled with more optimism than precision.
Across the city, recent demolitions are hidden behind tall panels of corrugated metal sheets, lined up side by side and freshly painted in loud blues or greys. The colours seem deliberate: a bright signal to the public that the chaos behind the barrier is, supposedly, the start of something new.
Traveling to Türkiye for Prostate Cancer Treatment: What Acıbadem Offers
Although prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, the good news is that it is generally treatable. At Acıbadem, we offer both surgical and non‑surgical options to cure localized disease permanently. For metastatic prostate cancer, we utilize systemic therapies and targeted radioactive treatments to control cancer progression, relieve symptoms, and enhance the patient’s quality of life.
The prostate is a gland unique to males and is part of the reproductive system. Prostate diseases are common, and the three most frequent conditions are prostate cancer, benign prostatic enlargement, and prostatitis. Each condition is distinct and requires its own treatment approach. Prostate cancer often causes the most concern, since the word “cancer” is frightening for many. Fortunately, when the tumor is localized and confined to the prostate, it is highly treatable today.
Robotic Surgery for Safe and Precise Cancerous Prostate Removal
The gold standard treatment for prostate cancer is surgery, which removes the entire prostate. If the tumor is confined to the prostate, surgery can provide a complete cure. However, preserving the surrounding vessels and nerves responsible for urinary control and erectile function is equally important, as these functions are valuable to a man’s quality of life. Even when the tumor is successfully removed, urinary incontinence can significantly impact daily life and may require further treatment. Erectile dysfunction is another possible side effect that can affect both the patient and his partner. That’s why top urologic oncology centers globally increasingly use robotic systems for radical prostatectomy, enabling more precise surgery.
Within the Acıbadem Healthcare Group, we currently employ robotic-assisted surgery in six hospitals to deliver the best possible outcomes. Thanks to our urologists’ extensive experience in robotic prostate cancer surgery, we not only remove the cancer entirely but also minimize the risk of urinary incontinence and impotence. Furthermore, at Acıbadem University, there is an official robotic surgery training center that educates surgeons and offers a globally recognized certificate.
Radiotherapy Effectively Treats Localized Prostate Cancer
Acıbadem has been using radiotherapy to treat cancer for over 20 years. Advances in radiation oncology have led to significant improvements in treatment outcomes. Today, radiotherapy is a valuable option for many types of cancer, including prostate cancer. MRI-guided radiotherapy represents one of the most advanced technologies in this field, providing more precise tumor targeting and better protection for healthy tissues compared to conventional CT-guided systems. For localized prostate cancer, MRI-guided radiotherapy achieves success rates similar to surgery. This allows the tumor to be completely treated without an incision, offering an effective alternative to radical prostatectomy.
Radiation or Surgery for Prostate Cancer: What’s the Better Option?
Both radiotherapy and surgery have their advantages and disadvantages. Patients should discuss these treatment alternatives with physicians from both disciplines to determine the best option for their condition. It is important to remember that if radiation therapy is chosen instead of surgery, the machine must be equipped with the latest technology to minimize risks to healthy organs and tissues near the prostate, such as the bladder and functional nerves. However, at the end of the day, patients should feel at ease with their decision. Both treatments have high success rates in achieving a permanent cure when they are administered by experienced specialists with mastery, attentiveness, and patience.
If My Cancer Has Metastasized…
The most challenging scenario in prostate cancer is when it spreads to other organs or tissues. The good news is that prostate cancer usually presents symptoms before it metastasizes. Fewer than 10 percent of patients are diagnosed after the cancer has already spread. At that stage, surgery is no longer an option. Instead, medical oncologists focus on controlling the disease using various treatment modalities.
The primary treatment for metastatic prostate cancer is hormone therapy, as prostate cancer is hormone-dependent. However, if the patient has a high tumor burden or the cancer is predicted to follow an aggressive course, chemotherapy may also be administered. In patients who become resistant to both hormone therapy and chemotherapy, radioactive treatments such as Lutetium-177 PSMA may be considered.
All treatment decisions are based on the patient’s tumor burden, response to previous therapies, and findings from PSMA PET imaging. At Acıbadem, medical oncologists who specialize in urologic cancers work closely with urologists to determine the best possible treatment plan for each patient.
If you’d like to learn more, visit acibademinternational.com and share your condition with us through the contact form. Our expert team will get in touch with you within a few hours. You can get a second medical opinion from our medical experts for free, contact us now : https://acibademinternational.com/
Soaring Bids, Shrinking Plots Reshape Addis Abeba’s Land Market
Addis Abeba’s latest land lease auction, its seventh in the current cycle, has offered fresh insight into the changing dynamics of the capital’s volatile property market.
The lease offer of 274 plots across eight districts drew substantial interest, but with a notable shift in interest. Fewer bidders faced steeper prices, and a widening gulf between speculative and end-user motivations.
The City Land Development & Administration Bureau opened bidding on 274 plots, covering close to 70,000Sqm, across eight districts. The event, held at the Bole District’s meeting hall near to Megenagna square, drew robust interest, with more than 4,800 people buying bid documents. However, in a sign that the market’s mood is shifting, the number of actual bidders fell about seven percent from the previous round.
Despite the dip in participation, the number of offers soared. The average offer made for a square metre jumped nearly 48pc, marking one of the sharpest increases seen in recent auctions. In Gulelle District, located in the northwest of the City, a cluster of seven plots attracted particularly aggressive bids. The highest offer came from Addisalem Fenta, who committed to pay 135,000 Br a square metre for a 100Sqm plot, putting down more than 13.5 million Br for a parcel barely big enough for a modest home.
That price represented a 48pc leap from the previous round’s high, which had been set at 91,330 Br a square metre for a 90Sqm plot in Nifas Silk-Lafto District in the southern part of the City.
Kolfe Qeranyo District, on the western side of Addis Abeba, delivered another surprise. A 96Sqm plot, the smallest on offer in the auction, went for 125,000 Br a square metre, snapped up by Eliyas Shamsu. This trend, in which smaller plots command higher prices and draw more bidders, has become increasingly pronounced. Many observers attribute this to affordability, as smaller parcels still require a large upfront payment, but one that is within reach for more middle-class bidders, while larger lots mean steeper total commitments that deter many would-be lessors.
The largest plot available in this round was a 902Sqm parcel in Gulelle District. It was won by Tay Trading Plc for 25,000 Br a square meter, showing that size, rather than location alone, can put downward pressure on lease prices. In the same District, the auction also produced the lowest winning price. Michael Alemu secured a 456Sqm plot at 9,800 Br a square metre, unveiling how wide the price range can be, even within the same neighbourhood.
Bidders left the auction hall with mixed feelings.
Bisrat Getnet, who placed 36,660 Br a square metre for a 150Sqm plot in Nifas Silk-Lafto District, was pleased with his win, though he admitted, “the price was somewhat high compared to other plots in the District.”
He intends to use the plot for commercial purposes, where, presumably, a higher return can be expected.
But others were left frustrated. Muluken Melaku, who bid for a 189Sqm plot in Yeka District in the City’s north, placing 21,000 Br a square metre, only to see the winning offer reach 60,000 Br, nearly three times his bid.
“This winning price was exaggerated and far above what the plot is worth,” he told Fortune.
The auction was overseen by the City’s Land Auction Committee, led by its chairperson, Kibrom Assefa, who said the bidding process was “transparent and successful.” He disclosed that city land officials had initially planned to put 384 plots up for bid but were forced to remove 110, some due to ongoing court litigation and others because their paperwork and clearance process had not been completed. Out of the 274 plots that did go under the hammer, 49 received no winning bid at all.
According to Kibrom, the City’s recent push to require full upfront payment is part of a strategy to discourage speculators and ensure that only serious buyers, ready to build, enter the process.
“Many bid winners chose to pay the full amount upfront,” he said.
The plots issued in this round had already been cleared of previous occupants, with compensation paid, and are zoned for mixed residential and commercial development. Kibrom also noted that bidders appear to be better prepared, with a marked drop in the number of disqualified bid documents. In a sign of the times, he disclosed that the Bureau plans to eliminate all paperwork in future auctions, moving instead to an entirely digital platform.
Expert opinions on the land lease market are divided.
Ermiyas Tadesse, a veteran of the City’s real estate sector, has observed several recent auctions and believes prices have risen compared to the last round, but noted that they have actually dropped from levels seen in the fifth round and earlier.
“Lease prices have dropped,” he told Fortune. “But they’re still too expensive for most people.”
According to Ermiyas, the auctions tend to attract small and individual buyers with the means and the information to bid. However, the high bid prices are not always paid by those looking to build.
“Many winning bidders don’t lease the land to build on it,” he said. “They join the auction to lease the plot at a relatively better price from the government and then resell it at a much higher price.”
He argued that such bidders do not mind whether the price they offer is inflated, as they are primarily seeking a profit. He called for more active city intervention to counter what he described as unnecessary price inflation and “unfair practices” in the market.
Ermiyas also pointed to eroding confidence among bidders and businesspeople. He argued that frequent changes in government policy and land laws, as well as common occurrences of eviction and land repossession in Addis Abeba, have made many potential bidders wary. The result is an increasing preference for condominiums and apartments rather than plots. He also blamed “tough business conditions” and high tax pressure for pushing traders out of the market.
Nonetheless, Ermiyas sees some positive outcomes from the auctions. He believes the process helps keep the market moving and that, with stronger and broader promotion, it could be made more inclusive. He urged the City Administration to offer more small-sized plots, since they are more affordable and would likely attract more genuine home builders.
“People should be encouraged to form associations and build community homes,” he said, urging the City to prioritise this type of bidding in the future.
Forex Windfall Puts Addis Bank on an Unsteady Pedestal
Addis Bank ended the last financial year as one of the most unusual performers in the banking industry. It stood out as a statistical outlier of exceptionally profitable, conservatively leveraged, fast-capitalising, and unusually liquid.
However, its strong results depended heavily on income streams that may not have matured into stable earnings. Its balance sheet for 2024/25 was strong by almost every standard measure, ranking above its peers in solvency, capital adequacy, and short-term earnings power, while also revealing a financial institution that moved away from the traditional interest-driven model that has shaped the industry’s long-term resilience.
According to industry analysts, the next test for Addis Bank may not be how fast it grows, but whether it can preserve these gains once the forex tide that lifted it begins to recede.
The mid-tier, third-generation Bank posted a net profit of 2.19 billion Br, a 430pc jump and one of the sharpest profit spikes seen in the industry in recent years. The surge pushed earnings per share (EPS) to 924 Br, up from 204 Br, marking a 353pc rise. Foreign exchange transactions accounted for 41.6pc of the profit, generating nearly 1.81 billion Br, making forex the dominant driver behind last year’s results.
“The Bank performed extraordinarily by any measure,” said Aminu Nuru, a financial analyst based in Doha, Qatar.
However, he obserevd that the Bank’s performance was tied to its ability to benefit from the monetary policy decision to float the Birr.
Across the industry, profit growth has remained between 18pc and 30pc, with a few high performers pushing margins through efficiency or portfolio discipline. Addis Bank’s profit before tax expanded nearly fivefold, a gap too large to attribute to normal banking activities. Forex translation gains of almost 1.8 billion Br drove the surge. Historically, such gains have proved temporary in reforming economies.
Hailu Alemu, president of Addis Bank, conceded that last year’s extraordinary foreign exchange performance was driven by the appreciation of the Bank’s foreign-currency assets and the lifting of the rule that required commercial banks to surrender 70pc of foreign exchange earnings to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). The policy shift enabled banks to retain their foreign exchange reserves, thereby strengthening their financial position.
Aminu cautioned that much of the gain from foreign exchange transactions is unlikely to be repeated in the current fiscal year.
“This is a one-time macroeconomic shift,” he told Fortune.
Addis Bank’s Board Chairman, Kassahun Bekele, took a different view, praising management for its “prudent handling of foreign currency.” He argued that the profitability was largely due to sound foreign exchange management and careful loan distribution. Kassahun attributed the synergy between the Board and management to the financial results that he said pleased shareholders.
“We’ve met the minimum requirements set by the National Bank of Ethiopia,” the Chairman said. “Our profits are expected to remain strong. Overall, the Bank is now on solid ground.”
Addis Bank’s results painted the picture of an institution riding an extraordinary earnings cycle. Beneath the headline numbers, the Bank’s model appeared impressive and structurally fragile when compared to industry averages.
Its return on assets (RoA) of 11.2pc and return on equity (RoE) of nearly 50pc placed it outside the competitive frontier. Most banks operate with an RoA of about 1.9pc to 2.4pc and an RoE shaped mainly by leverage. Addis Bank achieved high profitability with moderate leverage, a combination more typical of niche financial institutions than banks still in expansion mode. A net profit of 2.2 billion Br, on average assets of 19.5 billion Br, produced an RoA five times the industry norm.
Even measured against closing assets, profitability remained high at 9.3pc, far above the usual two percent range for domestic banks.
Profit margin, asset turnover, and equity multiplier showed that Addis Bank’s earnings power rested on margin rather than leverage. A net profit margin of 41.5pc, more than double the industry’s 18pc to 25pc range, puts it firmly among the beneficiaries of the new foreign-exchange regime. Its income composition diverged from the industry’s usual structure, where around three-quarters of revenue comes from interest and spreads. Roughly two-thirds of Addis Bank’s revenue came from forex gains and fee-based activities.
Hailu, the president, shared analysts’ doubts about replicating last year’s windfall.
“Our performance in foreign exchange may not match last year’s,” he said.
But he expected strong overall results this year. He noted that although the dollar rate continues to rise, the Bank is managing its foreign currency carefully and has already exceeded its first-quarter target, signalling profits could remain high.
Last year, Addis Bank resembled a transaction-led and forex-exposed platform rather than a bank built on credit intermediation. The difference became sharper when examining the asset turnover ratio. A total income of 5.3 billion Br from average assets generated a turnover rate of 27pc, about 10 percentage points higher than large incumbents such as Awash and Dashen banks, which operated at rates of 15pc to 17pc. Its equity multiplier, around 4.5 times, was modest, far below the industry’s typical leverage of eight to 16 times.
The balanced structure – high earnings and turnover paired with low leverage – helped push RoE toward 50pc, without the fragility often associated with aggressive gearing.
Capitalisation further distinguished Addis Bank. An equity-to-asset ratio of nearly 24pc placed it at more than double the industry’s average of nine to 13pc. Even strong performers such as Zemen Bank at 14pc or Dashen Bank at 15pc fell short. Equity expanded by 78pc year-on-year (YoY), outpacing asset growth of 53pc. Unusually, the windfall strengthened solvency rather than diluting it. Most mid-tier banks grow their assets faster than their equity and depend on share issuance or retained earnings to maintain their capital ratios.
Addis Bank, however, moved in the opposite direction.
Loan growth of 11.7pc lagged far behind the industry’s 22pc to 30pc expansion in the past two years. While banking activity nationwide was driven by pent-up demand, structural shifts in liquidity, and post-reform optimism, Addis Bank grew its credit cautiously. Yet, the quality indicators looked solid. A non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 3.4pc was in line with industry averages and below regulatory limits.
According to Hailu, the Bank rigorously evaluates borrowers, checking credit history and overall credibility before approval.
“Their success is our success, their failure is our failure,” he said, stating close follow-up after disbursement.
Aminu praised the discipline.
Although 42pc of its loans went to export financing, a cyclical sector with concentrations most peers avoid, there was no sign of deterioration in asset quality.
Deposits grew 34pc, consistent with industry trends, producing a loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 66pc, well within the comfort range of 60pc to 80pc used by most banks. Larger peers, including the Bank of Abyssinia, manage tighter liquidity with ratios of nearly 80pc. Addis Bank’s liquidity position appeared conservative. The deposit mix resembled the industry but included a sharp 70pc surge in demand deposits, signalling either stronger customer engagement or inflows linked to forex operations.
The income structure revealed Addis Bank’s deepest departure from the industry’s model. Interest income accounted for only one-third of revenue, compared to roughly three-quarters across the industry. Net interest income accounted for less than 20pc of total revenue versus an industry norm of above 70pc. Analysts warn that this shift boosted earnings under a liberalising forex regime but could leave the Bank exposed to volatility.
Aminu warned that costs could become a concern if windfall profits do not recur.
“The management should closely monitor expense growth,” he said.
Cost trends echoed industry patterns where personnel and administrative expenses accounted for two-thirds of total costs, similar to the typical 55pc to 65pc industry range. But, Addis Bank stood out not for cost discipline but for income growth so strong that it diluted its cost ratio. Many banks experienced a rise in personnel expenses that outpaced revenue growth, negatively impacting their profitability. Addis Bank benefited from the opposite dynamic.
According to Hailu, the rising personnel costs reflected deliberate salary adjustments aimed at retaining staff.
“The industry faces high turnover, but trained employees should not leave,” he said. “Adjusting salaries helps us retain them.”
The Bank’s 1,530 permanent staff and a similar number of outsourced employees received extensive training.
“Investing in employees helps sustain profitability,” Hailu told Fortune, disclosing that some of his staff attended two or three trainings each.
Total assets rose 53pc to nearly 23.6 billion Br, from 15.4 billion Br the previous year. Aminu described it as “a significant expansion.” Compared to the industry’s average asset growth of 28pc, Addis Bank nearly doubled the pace. Yet, peers such as Abay Bank, at 66.4 billion Br, and Oromia Bank, at 114.6 billion Br, remained far ahead, demonstrating how much ground Addis Bank still needs to cover.
While assets climbed by 53.4pc, loans grew only 11.5pc to 9.7 billion Br, below the credit growth cap. The loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 65.15pc fell below the industry average. RoA was 9.27pc, inflated by the policy shift. According to Aminu, the Bank could have “issued more loans and better utilised its deposits,” calling the low LDR evidence of idle funds.
Hailu rejected this view, arguing that his managment deliberately maintained an LDR near 65pc to meet withdrawal demands. According to him, Addis Bank aligned lending with the 14pc credit cap and managed liquidity prudently.
Loan distribution showed that 42pc went to domestic trade and services, an allocation the President characterised as “cautious and targeted at borrowers who can repay.” The Bank focuses on coffee exporters, whose sector is performing well, giving confidence that loans will not turn into NPLs. However, Aminu pressed for more diversification.
Incorporated in 2012 with an initial equity of 109.4 million Br raised from 5,309 founding shareholders, including traditional saving cooperatives, Edirs, and farmers’ unions, Addis Bank’s shareholder base grew to 18,863 by the end of the last fiscal year. Paid-up capital grew to 2.5 billion Br, still below the mandatory five billion Birr required by mid-2026. At the general meeting last September, shareholders resolved to have 1.38 billion Br in dividends reinvested as paid-up capital.
A shareholder, Tamiru Tadesse, said the results “exceeded everyone’s expectations.” He expected a strong performance this year, but warned that policy shifts require management to remain vigilant.
Three years earlier, the shareholders’ assembly decided to issue new shares. Between June 2025 and November, the Bank sold 1.1 billion Br worth of shares.
“These funds will help the Bank meet the minimum capital requirement,” Hailu said, noting that the target expected to take a year was met in three months. “Demand surged so quickly that branches were overwhelmed.”
At the main branch on Jomo Kenyatta Street, near Bambis Supermarket, its manager, Mesfin Sileshi, primarily deals with exporters, who are the majority of his customers. He called the past year “a blessed year,” during which his branch generated nearly 100 million Br in foreign exchange earnings.
Customer confidence appeared strong. Deposits reached 14.6 billion Br, a 34pc rise. Digital channels processed 76.7 billion Br last year, supported by 44 ATMs and platforms, including Derash and Guzo Go. They handled 1.5 million transactions, though their profit contribution remained marginal.
The Foreign Exchange Revolution That Never Quite Happened
The scene playing out in the foreign exchange market is more than a tale of distorted pricing. It is a test of policy credibility and institutional resolve.
In the 15 months since the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) introduced a liberalised exchange-rate regime, the commercial banks have operated in a space suspended between theory and practice. What was meant to usher in market realism has instead exposed the Central Bank’s ambivalence and the economy’s deep structural fragility.
The July 2024 directive marked a seismic shift in Ethiopia’s monetary orthodoxy, which had been in place for over half a century. By scrapping surrender requirements, enabling interbank trading, and allowing market-based quoting, the Central Bank initially appeared to have adopted a more flexible approach. But the policy’s core promise (to let supply and demand determine the value of the Birr) remains unfulfilled.
In reality, the Central Bank continues to enforce compliance, penalise non-reporting banks, and ration dollars through ad hoc auctions too small and infrequent to anchor expectations.
While the official rate has depreciated dramatically, nearly 148pc since liberalisation, the shadow of the parallel market still looms large. The gap has narrowed, yes, from over 100pc to around 19pc, but that is still twice the global norm. And when banks, mainly the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), routinely pay far above their posted rates (on average at 150 Br) to buy dollars, the disconnect between declared and de facto policy becomes unmissable.
These high premiums signal that the foreign exchange market is not truly liberalised, but merely deregulated within a tightly managed framework. Policymakers fear the backlash that a fully free float might unleash in an inflation-crushed public. The monetary reform, nonetheless, marked a decisive shift in the country’s cross-border dollar position.
Direct access to the Central Bank’s ledgers is unavailable, yet global databases offer clues. Figures from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) put foreign-bank claims on Ethiopian residents amount to one billion and two billion dollars, almost entirely in foreign currency and overwhelmingly in dollars. The Brewed Buck is not convertible and is shunned by foreign banks. Cross-border credit, mostly comes from Asia and the Middle East, tied to trade finance or development loans.
Domestic banks’ own deposits abroad are also modest, at roughly one billion, with almost all of it in dollars. After the July reform, balances appeared to have ticked up as banks stocked correspondent accounts, but within the usual range. BIS data show that dollar claims dipped in early 2024 as foreign banks trimmed their exposure, then rose once the interbank market reopened and lenders built up their buffers.
The IMF reckons that Ethiopia’s public external debt was between 28 billion and 30 billion dollars, about 60pc in dollars, 30pc in euros and the rest in Yuan and other currencies. Private foreign debt is tiny, making official loans the bulk of the Central Bank’s liabilities. Reserves were 2.4 billion dollars in 2023/24, equal to two months of imports, with a slight rise following liberalisation. They are held mostly in dollars and euros, with a small amount of gold.
Nonetheless, the current-account deficit is shrinking due to improved coffee exports and remittances, but the capital account remains under strain. Banks now hold bigger dollar pools to serve clients, even though private import demand is weak and lending is restrained. Any rise in dollar funding on the Central Bank’s books thus likely reflects official support rather than market demand.
To ease the adjustment, the Central Bank began holding occasional foreign exchange auctions, pledging only to smooth volatility. With scant reserves, it cannot defend a level for long. Domestic liquidity tightened and interest rates stayed high, revealing no large-scale dollar pumping. BIS numbers, showing merely mild shifts, back the view that private cross-border flows remain small.
The trouble is that when banks pay over the odds for dollars, the credibility of the official rate erodes. It is a symptom of stubborn misalignment between policy and reality. As the actual price diverges from the posted one, the market assumes policymakers are failing to anchor expectations. The old habit of managing the rate breeds an artificial benchmark unsupported by supply and demand, undercutting monetary control.
Net-interest margins shrink because extra costs cannot be passed on where lending rates are capped and competition is fierce. Depreciation and volatility increase defaults among borrowers with unhedged dollar-denominated debts, prompting lenders to raise provisions and erode profits. Their liabilities stay in Birr while assets erode in dollar terms, deepening liquidity strains. Banks may try to offset the pain with fees, commissions and trading gains, but rarely enough. Persistent premiums threaten sector-wide stability, risking liquidity crunches or even failures.
The authorities could respond with liquidity lines, auctions or help for systemic banks, but such measures only buy time if shortages persist. A distorted foreign exchange market also undermines monetary policy. When expectations hinge on the parallel rate, an interest-rate hike may not curb inflation. Central banks then resort to blunt tools, including rationing, direct injections or tighter controls. Overreliance on such tactics delays reform and fuels fresh distortions.
Ethiopia’s woes echo patterns elsewhere. Restrictions, special windows, underdeveloped markets and parallel dealers all sustain premiums. Currency overvaluation, meant to tame inflation, widens the gap. Fiscal deficits funded by money creation stoke depreciation bets. Seasonal shocks and commodity swings add pressure.
Governor Eyob Tekalegn (PhD) can narrow spreads by boosting supply and talking straight, thereby anchoring expectations. If he fails, funding costs rise, credit tightens, and growth slows. Import-price pass-through keeps inflation high. Capital flees. Currency lurches force heavier intervention, depleting reserves and shaking confidence.
Capital-flow volatility adds to the jitters. Domestic bank credit is slowing as lenders turn cautious. Interbank and repo rates occasionally spike above policy rates, betraying short-term scarcity. Impairment provisions rise when borrowers struggle with more expensive dollar-denominated debts. Under forward-looking accounting rules, provisions can grow quickly, adding volatility to earnings. Banks with large forex-linked books are vulnerable. Defaults rise among import-heavy firms and other dollar-dependent borrowers.
Governor Eyob should closely monitor these indicators as sustained premiums signal the need for coordination and perhaps intervention. Banks, too, should monitor loan performance, adjust provisions and brace for earnings swings.
Ethiopia’s experience underlines the delicate balance between reform and stability. The liberalisation, although it could have come at a better time, was brave yet incomplete. Forex auctions and a market-based system mark progress but could falter without deeper change. Monetary credibility requires a transparent framework, credible inflation targeting, and a willingness to let the rate adjust in response to fundamentals.
Improving access to official foreign exchange channels, streamlining import finance, and bolstering reserves would help. So would clearer communication on the scale and logic of interventions. Policymakers should track the premium, watch its pass-through to inflation and guard financial stability, ready to act swiftly.
Yet early discomfort is no reason to backtrack. The IMF’s reform blueprint promised that letting the Brewed Buck float would attract foreign investment, unlock donor support, and allow prices to speak for themselves. These gains remain elusive, not because the idea is wrong, but because the transition is only half done. The stubborn premium between the official and parallel markets still defeats the whole policy objective.
The Central Bank is in a dilemma. It praises flexibility, yet levies fines of millions of Birr when banks miss tight reporting deadlines. Regular auctions were intended to determine prices, but the frequency is erratic as the amounts on offer small, rendering each sale a lottery that encourages hoarding rather than trade. Banks that win cling to scarce dollars. Those who lose scramble in the grey market, making the liberalisation largely more rhetoric than reality.
That, in turn, prolongs uncertainty, erodes trust in policy and keeps domestic bankers, importers and savers braced for the next lurch in the Brewed Buck.
From Fuel Pumps to Plug Points, Wired Ambitions Meet Weak Current
The late-afternoon sun slants across Tewodros Square, on Churchill Road, gilding the dust that rises from the cracked asphalt. On the left side of the square behind the fountain, Michu Corner, a charging station opened eight months ago, is located. It is equipped with a terrace for an open-air cinema. Adjacent to it, a fast food establishment is vibrating with the buzz of people’s chatter and soft background music.
Inside the station, a grey BYD E5 was tethered to a charging portal, its cable plastered like a thick black vine into the port. Besides it, two more BYDs, one white and the other grey, were lined up waiting for their batteries to be charged. A lone pink BYD Seagull stood out from a white and grey colour palette. Within 10 to 15 minutes, the three fully charged vehicles depart the post to charge the next batch of EVs.
Fraol Adem, the facilitator, dashed between them, driving the charged one out and making room for a new one. He yanked a plug free with practised ease, beckoned the next driver in, and recorded their plate number on a piece of paper to identify the charging time.
Eyob Legese, owner of a grey BYD E5, waited nearly an hour in the queue to charge, paying 900 Br. He bought the car six months ago for 3.2 million Br and uses Michu Corner exclusively due to its proximity to his home. The home charging overexerts the circuit, and the cable supplied by the importer overheats. When he plugs the vehicle into his home charger, he cannot even use a light bulb due to the low power.
Eyob does not trust the overheating cable that came with the vehicle importer to do the job. For long trips, he relies on his petrol-powered Toyota Yaris, which he bought a decade ago, when new vehicles were sold for hundreds of thousands of Birr. Though the EV’s 450Km range covers a 350Km round trip to Hawassa, Eyob remained cautious. The availability of a charging station remains a concern to him, as there are only a few stations working outside of Addis Abeba.
“I would confidently travel to Debre Zeit and back, which is 120Km total in full charge,” he said.
In the city, however, the savings are 800 Br to 900 Br for a full charge, compared to triple that amount for fuel, when he compares it to his Yaris. He noted that the comfort he has in his vehicle is also different from that of the Yaris. The new one, he noted, has more comfort.
His new vehicle, which he has only used for a few months, has an unavoidable future maintenance issue lurking at the back of his mind. He noted that, although there is nothing to be serviced right now, there comes a time in any vehicle’s life when it is mandatory to be serviced. Being a new model has its perks when it comes to finding a qualified technician.
Most drivers leave their vehicles after connecting them to the ports. Some exit the gate to take a walk, while others visit nearby cafés, and some engage in a cordial conversation with fellow drivers.
Michu Corner is more than a charging point. Awarded to businessman Tesfaye Adugna through a city bid, the site includes a children’s playground, a fast-food outlet, a café, and a vehicle décor shop. The food and beverage infrastructure alone required over 10 million Br in investment. All chargers, offering 60, 80, and 120-volt fast-charge options, were imported by the city administration. The rate is fixed at 20 Br a kilowatt-hour.
As the city’s pioneer EV charging station, Tesfaye faced steep challenges. Burnt cables, bureaucratic delays in maintenance, and frequent power outages have plagued his operations. Repairs rely on the Chinese manufacturers, causing an extended delay. Electricity costs remain unclear, as the station’s bill combines charging, corridor lighting, restaurant power, and the fountain near the roundabout.
“I’m asking for bill clarification,” he told Fortune.
During power outages, Tesfaye uses a diesel generator, but the high fuel costs limit its use to only when necessary.
“It’s not ideal to run a business with,” he told Fortune. “Only for emergencies like charging ambulances with dead batteries.”
Future plans include a car wash and mobile charging units.
“I want it to be an all-in-one destination,” Tesfaye said.
The Michu Corner station employs 80 people across three shifts, with 10 workers on duty at a time until midnight. The expansion plans to double the number of staff. Charging times vary from 30 minutes to four hours, depending on battery capacity and condition. However, owners leave fully charged vehicles on the premises, blocking bays. Fraol moves them to non-functional chargers and enforces time-based penalties.
Michu Corner is one of the new scenes in Addis Abeba where federal transport authorities, under the stewardship of Alemu Sime (PhD), the Chinese-educated transport minister, pin their hope on replacing combustion engines with electric motors. Their ambitions are grand, as they are determined to slash a multibillion-dollar fuel bill, clean Addis Ababa’s smog-filled sky, which accounts for 78pc of its source due to fossil fuel, and build an industry that can assemble, service, and eventually design its own cars.
Their draft e-mobility strategy reads like a manifesto for change, pushing the country from isolated pilots to full-scale adoption with mandatory chargers at fuel stations, mobile and swapping networks, and training pipelines that promise to localise 30pc of production by 2030. But on garage floors, in the Ministry’s corridors on Churchill Road and across 1,590 fuel stations, the numbers do not always add up.
Alemu and his policy wonks have set a 10-year goal of 152,855 battery-powered vehicles, comprising 148,000 cars and 4,855 buses. Beginning next year, every new tuk-tuk, motorcycle, government-plated car and urban bus would be electric. By the end of the decade, 15pc of new freight lorries and five percent of freight traffic should plug in, while a fifth of shared bicycles would run on batteries.
The current manufacturing blueprint claims a capacity for 63,900 two- and three-wheelers, 14,900 cars, 1,200 light trucks and 3,500 minibuses and coaches a year, enough, on paper, to meet demand if factories are busy every shift.
Registrations of electric cars have jumped from 7,000 in 2022 to 115,000 this year, and transport officials say 60pc of new vehicles sold in 2024 carried no tailpipe. Transport already accounts for 15pc of carbon emissions nationwide, leading policymakers to develop a strategy that pledges to cut 13.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030. They hope this will help avoid a rise in pollution-linked deaths from 935 recorded in 2016 to a projected 1,531.
They also pin their hope that doing so saves hard currency. Last year, Ethiopia spent 2.5 billion dollars on fuel imports, equivalent to 32pc of export earnings and 17pc of all imports.
Nearly 500 chargers have already been installed beside shopping malls and apartment blocks, with one-fifth of them rated super-fast. Mobile units roll to football matches and concerts, while private operators run battery-swap kiosks where motorists trade depleted packs for fresh ones in minutes. Minister Alemu plans to expand the network to 1,176 chargers in the capital and 1,054 elsewhere, complete with an app that displays prices, distances, and nearby repair shops, as well as reserved traffic lanes for quiet cars.
However, many experts and industry insiders see the financial front as brutal.
“Gas stations in the country are generally small, and electric cars require more than seven hours to charge,” says Ephrem Tesfaye, a board member of the Ethiopian Petroleum Dealers Association, which represents 500 gas station owners across the country.
He did the maths, hoping to transition to a station operation providing electric charging services. He was not pleased with the result. Installing two 30-minute fast chargers needs a 220kV transformer that costs over six million Birr. Add cables, switchgear and a stable power link, and the cost hits 15 million. To earn that back, he would have to charge more than a thousand Birr a vehicle, and most people already top up at home or work.
Power itself is unreliable, with vehicle owners complaining that domestic metres trip when they plug in overnight, blackouts halt daytime charging, and voltage swings shorten battery life. Energy planners have promised upgrades, but drivers still queue at the handful of fast units, risking the congestion the new lanes are meant to ease.
Few people feel the tension more sharply than Melkamu Assefa, a shareholder and founding managing director of Marathon Motor Engineering Plc. It is a company incorporated in 2008, in partnership with Haile Gebresellasie and Getaneh Reta, a prominent architect. Entering into a partnership with Hyundai a year after its founding, the company is a pioneer in expanding electric vehicle (EV) adoption, long before federal transport policymakers began to aggressively push for it.
Its assembly plant, a flagship for the “Let Ethiopia Manufacture” campaign, operates six training centres, has an expanding charging network, and has developed 15 local models.
In October, EV manufacturers walked into the Ministry of Industry off General Wingate St., near Abrehot Library, to deliver a blunt message. Initially, he understood the five percent gap between import and manufacturing duties, a policy decision to help people understand EVs.
“But that time has passed,” he told Fortune, arguing that importing has suddenly become more lucrative than assembling. “The tax structure should now encourage manufacturing, not imports.”
Manufacturing requires heavy investment. Melkamu insisted that the point of the plant is not merely screwdriver assembly, but technology transfer, human capacity building, and the creation of excellence centres that can test batteries and certify parts. He also warned that if nothing changes, companies will be forced to leave manufacturing and import to survive.
Industry leaders, such as Semereab Serkebirhan, vice chairman of the Ethiopian Automobile Industries Association, share his frustration and echo his concerns. Assemblers pay eight to 10 percent duty to import a bare car body, more than the five percent incentive granted on the finished vehicle.
“Importing is more profitable than manufacturing,” said Semereab, who is also chief executive officer (CEO) of FB Automotive Engineering.
Wages, electricity and packaging swallow the margin, and even the Ministry’s offer to waive tax on machinery worth up to half a million dollars still requires clearance from other federal agencies.
Transport officials insist the levers exist.
Kedilmagist Ibrahim, an adviser at the Ministry of Transport & Logistics (MoTL), ticks them off. Duty-free privileges for assembler inputs, land grants, and even an exemption from business registration for companies that build chargers are some of the benefits provided to them.
“When we import batteries, they are swap batteries,” he said. “Commercial areas and government offices will open swapping stations. It is mandatory for one motor to have two batteries.”
The Ministry intends to push for converting petrol buses first, then private cars when prices fall, licensing garages to perform conversions and counting public vehicles on a service lifespan of 20 to 25 years.
The private oil business tried to match that vision. The idea was that charging services would be provided exclusively by oil companies at gas stations, which would operate as dual service systems. A technical committee defined the roles of oil firms, transporters and staff, but “the regulations were never finalised,” according to Ketema Sileshi, general manager of African Oil.
His company installed a pilot charger last May, which has yet to be powered up.
“In this business, visibility is low, and many variables are unpredictable,” Ketema told Fortune. “Setting up infrastructure requires substantial investment.”
FB Manufacturing industry is now building a modern complex on the Debre Zeit expressway, with chargers, a tyre garage and a café.
For users, the story is changing fast. Elias Haile, an EV consultant trained in China, acknowledged the authorities’ support.
“It’s a good trend,” he told Fortune. “In past years, buyers were mostly rich men willing to take risks, but now everyone is buying.”
Even so, he warned that fast chargers, used by most public points, can shorten battery life, and that replacement packs attract a 60pc duty, sometimes half the price of the car. Power cuts, he contended, mean that public chargers are best used as a backup, not as the main supply.
Globally, the trend is hard to miss, with volumes having climbed from 1.2 million in 2017 to 17 million by 2024. Some countries, such as Norway, have reached 80pc EV sales in 2022, shifting 150,000 units that year. Several African countries use tax holidays and public charging stations to attract buyers. Minister Alemu and his people want to leapfrog straight to batteries, but the national grid still blinks in and out.
E-mobility expert Bereket Tesfaye praised the implementation strategy but issued a sober checklist of barriers.
How many universities teach battery chemistry or high-voltage maintenance? How wide is the urban-rural electricity gap? Where is the manual for phasing out diesel cars? What rules will govern battery recycling?
“Drafting an implementation strategy is good,” he said. “But, it also needs an implementation plan. The tax system is not currently supportive of manufacturing.”
Import taxes remain high, while most drivers do not trust electric cars, and reliable repair shops are hard to find. Bank loans are scarce, shipping is expensive, investors are hesitant, and mechanics require additional training. There is no system for recycling old batteries, and used petrol cars remain much more popular and affordable.
However, buyers continue to arrive, lured by the promise of zero fuel bills during a currency crunch. Policymakers hope to support that enthusiasm with bank credits, cheaper insurance for battery cars, and new rules that reduce import duties on spare parts. Workshops, test drives, celebrity social media clips, and online help lines are planned to dispel myths about range, cost, and repair.
Everything depends on whether manufacturers stick it out. Semereab argued that charging stations help motorists but do nothing for factory cash flow unless the incentive rises.
Bereket’s other anxiety is where worn-out batteries will go. He notes that other countries publish detailed manuals on reuse and recycling, but Ethiopia’s strategy has yet to spell out collection centres, recovery processes or producer responsibilities.
Teaching Hospitals Buckle Under Budget Strain
Teaching hospitals, once bastions of clinical training and community care, are now operating under binding financial distress, threatening their core mandates of education, treatment, and research.
The crisis has exposed the inadequacies of a funding architecture that classifies hospitals under the “community service” budget line of universities, a model increasingly derided as outdated and insufficient.
The current financing model ties teaching hospitals to university budgets, allocating a small percentage under the “community service” rubric. Hospitals such as Jimma University’s Teaching Hospital and Tibebe Ghion Specialised Hospital are operating under constraints so tight that basic equipment, including CT scans and X-rays, remains broken for months, medicines run short, and emergency referrals are made not out of clinical protocol but out of necessity.
Doctors, speaking anonymously, report burnout, irregular overtime payments, and emotional fatigue from turning away patients who cannot pay or receive timely care. The budgetary squeeze has led to compromised service delivery and eroded morale among healthcare staff. Even life-saving essentials like anaesthesia are scarce. The result is a knock-on effect on compromised care, reduced training efficacy for medical students, and a widening gap between healthcare demand and capacity.
For years, these institutions have been financed through a complex arrangement in which the Ministry of Finance allocates a sliver of university budgets. This system, critics say, has left teaching hospitals struggling to deliver basic services, pay their staff, and maintain critical equipment.
For a doctor from Jimma Teaching Hospital, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the challenges, most of the patients visit her Hospital with little money due to an emergency or to use the Community-Based Health Insurance. She described how budget shortages have resulted in broken CT-scan and X-ray machines going unrepaired, forcing staff to refer patients to smaller health centres or turn them away altogether. She observed that, in recent months, shortages of medicine have led to complications for many patients and even deaths.
“The situation of the patients is heartbreaking,” she said. “Most of them have no money to pay for themselves.”
Teaching hospitals sit at the intersection of crucial missions of training the next generation of medical professionals, conducting research, and providing healthcare to the broader community. But their finances are stretched to the breaking point. At Jimma, as at other hospitals, staff report going months without overtime pay. Essential medications, including anaesthesia, are often hard to find.
“Duty overtime payment has also been lagging for the past two years and only started six months ago,” said the Doctor. “The backlogs are being paid irregularly, leading the doctors to frustration and burnout.”
Part of the problem, according to education officials, is that regulations prevent teaching hospitals from generating additional income by charging for services, even as costs and demand for care rise. The Ministry of Health has issued rules that bar hospitals from adjusting their fees or running services as revenue centres. Hospitals should operate within the limits of the University’s community service budget, a figure that rarely covers the actual costs of running large and complex health facilities.
Minister of Education Berhanu Nega (Prof.) told Parliament last week that the current funding mechanism is unsustainable and called for a different approach.
“The hospitals need a different financing mechanism to enforce a better learning environment and service delivery,” he said.
He acknowledged that the existing system fails to recognise the unique needs and functions of teaching hospitals. The Minister argued that the hospitals, which serve as training grounds for medical schools, as research hubs, and as providers of community health services, should not have to fight for funding within a single and generalised university budget.
His view is shared by Solomon Abreha (PhD), CEO of Governance & Infrastructure at the Ministry of Education.
“The hospitals are under great budget constraints,” Solomon conceded. “They need a new budget segmentation and have to be budgeted independently.”
According to Solomon, teaching hospitals are funded under the community service budget segment, which is set at two percent of the total university budget. That arrangement, he argued, leaves the hospitals with too little to operate effectively and does not reflect their role in the health system.
There are 50 public and 90 private higher education institutions, including 28 public and seven private medical schools, as well as 22 regional health science colleges. In the 2021/22 fiscal year, 21,071 health professionals graduated across all universities. Yet, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) most recent trend analysis shows that the country’s Universal Health Service Coverage (UHC) index, after steadily improving between 2000 and 2015, slowed until 2019 and then stalled through 2021.
Projections show Ethiopia will reach a UHC index of 64.7pc by 2030, well below the 80pc target, which may not be met until after 2040, despite increased inputs into the health system.
Some of the largest hospitals are now speaking openly about the pressures they face.
Tibebe Ghion Specialised Hospital, run under Bahir Dar University and led by Mengesha Ayene (PhD), its president, has seven main wards, more than 500 inpatient beds (including 20 ICU beds and high dependency units), 126 clinical service rooms, and 14 fully equipped operating theatres. The Hospital has the capacity to train around 500 medical professionals annually and provides hospital services to a million patients each year.
Bahir Dar University received a budget of 2.7 billion Br this year, of which 350 million Br is earmarked for community service and consultancy.
“The Hospital is particularly challenged to cover all the expenses,” Mengesha said. “Due to the regulations by the Ministry of Health, the hospital can’t adjust the price of service and is now serving at the minimum fee or for free.”
He argued that the Hospital, which is focused on specialisation and subspecialisation, should be structured to be semi-autonomous, with its own budget, like other hospitals in the public system.
“The hospital needs 35pc to 40pc of the University’s budget in this city,” he said.
Dilla University’s teaching hospital faces a similar squeeze. The University has a budget of 1.73 billion Br this year, of which 29 million Br is set aside for consultancy and community service.
“Dilla University Referral & Teaching Hospital (DURTH) is getting a small percentage of the University’s budget under the same circumstances,” said its President, Eliyas Alemu (PhD). “The Hospital’s running costs and medicine purchases are the main burdens.”
The Hospital receives at most 50 million Br to cover all its expenses. The salary cost and overtime cost have become a burden for the Hospital as the budget becomes tighter.
“There should be an alternative mechanism for it,” said Eliyas.
University leaders and Ministry officials are not only concerned about hospital budgets. They are also moving to suspend new capital projects that have no direct bearing on education quality. According to Solomon, universities will discontinue projects that are under 50pc completion and not directly tied to education. He disclosed, no new projects will begin this year, except those that support core educational priorities.
The Education Ministry has already collected data on 820 ongoing projects as part of a larger review. In the new hierarchy, buildings will fall to third on the priority list.
According to some experts, while funding is critical, leadership and governance are as important. According to Asayehegn Tekeste, a public health expert with two decades of experience working with NGOs, financial challenges are exacerbated by structural problems in the way hospitals are run.
“Across all the regions and universities, similar problems like inability to pay their doctors, lack of medicines, and lack of ability to motivate workers are seen because of leadership problems,” he said.
No university presidents were born and work in the same place, a deliberate policy, the Minister told MPs, to encourage diversity. However, federal lawmakers have pressed the Ministry’s officials on why so many university presidents remain in acting roles, rather than permanent appointments. Tadesse Getu, member of the Standing Committee of Human Resource Management & Technology Affairs, pressed the Ministry on the issue.
Solomon blamed the previous practices of appointing university presidents as “overly rigid and even discriminatory.” He disclosed that a new directive is being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and is expected to be finalised soon.
However, Asayehegn argued that policymakers need to look beyond surface-level fixes and address the underlying governance issues. He warned that regulations issued in recent years have failed to address the root causes, and he fears new directives will miss the mark if key stakeholders are not consulted.
A New Rule Changes the Pulse of Trade
A sweeping regulatory directive has rattled the multi-billion Birr oilseed and pulse export sector, with the government mandating that all payments between exporters and suppliers be channelled exclusively through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX).
The shift replaces decades of informal and trust-based transactions with a centralised, bureaucratically supervised payment system, prompting a mixture of guarded approval and pointed criticism from industry players.
The directive, issued by the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration (MTRI), compels exporters to process all payments for pulses and oilseeds through ECX-monitored bank accounts. Gone are the days of direct bank transfers. ECX now acts as the sole intermediary, transferring payments to suppliers only after both parties file written confirmation of the transaction. A nominal 0.02pc transaction fee is levied for this service.
Federal officials tout the policy as a vital reform to combat payment delays, tax evasion, and market manipulation. Bekele Ketema, an international markets officer at the Ministry, argued that the change will bring much-needed transparency, traceability, and enforceability to a sector plagued by informal practices. According to him, the new process ensures all transactions are digitally recorded, tax-compliant, and contractually enforceable, aligning the domestic commodity trade with global standards.
“The government is seeking to build a more reliable and transparent relationship between the two parties, ensuring that every transaction is formally documented and processed through ECX,” he said.
Bekele argued that the system should increase tax accuracy, as every transaction will be officially recorded through ECX’s 26 bank accounts across the country.
“To ship their product, exporters have to bring confirmation from ECX proving that they used the direct market procedure, and the entire payment system goes through ECX,” he said. “This allows us to build long-term trust and ensure reliable taxation. A traceable and transparent system is essential to fair trade and future growth.”
ECX currently serves around 1,300 non-member suppliers and exporters using the direct market, with participation requiring only a tax identification number. An additional 500 members use the Exchange’s spot market system.
Exporters have to secure a net obligation report from ECX, which documents the full details of the traded goods, and submit it to the Ministry of Trade as a prerequisite for contract registration and export licensing.
Leaders within the industry have signalled broad, if cautious, support.
Edao Abdi, president of the Ethiopian Pulses, Oilseeds, & Spices Processors Exporters Association, which represents over 510 members, called the new approach a significant step, set to be applied to this year’s harvest. According to Edao, who is also a major shareholder in Edao International Trading Plc, the system will benefit both sides of the market by regulating payment and preventing the sort of product hoarding previously used to manipulate local prices.
“The relationship between exporters and providers had suffered from weak reliability, delayed payments, and informal, often disputatious, arrangements,” he told Fortune. “With the new directive, the entire process becomes legal, documented, and monitored. This will help build strong and reliable relationships between exporters and providers.”
A recent survey by the Association pressed for the oilseed and pulse sector’s central role in the economy. Sesame, which covers over one million hectares, remains the leading oilseed crop, with soybeans following at 690,000hct. Green mung beans, red kidney beans, and white pea beans are the most widely cultivated pulses. Production for oilseeds and pulses now spans nearly 2.75 million hectares, with sesame farmland alone rising by over 88,000hct this year, an increase of 8.5pc, while other major crops expanded by an average of 7.8pc.
Ethiopia exports oilseeds and pulses mainly to UAE, Turkey, China and Israel. Generating over 500 million dollars annually, making it the second largest export item next to coffee. On the ground in the main supply regions, some producers see the new rules as a potential solution to longstanding conflicts. Leaders of the Metema Sesame & Oilseed Providers Union, comprising 45 members, noted that the changes could help address disputes.
“The new rules will make trade easy and safe by ensuring ECX manages payments in a transparent manner,” Habte Zewdu, executive of the Union, told Fortune.
In the past, frequent disagreements had often led to legal action between exporters and suppliers, but Habte now sees hope that “this system can stop all of that.”
“The direct market process can finally become reliable,” he said.
Not everyone, however, is convinced. Many exporters argue that the new system imposes a fresh set of burdens that could disrupt established business networks and trust.
“Now we’ve to open new accounts under ECX to pay for products,” said Ephrem Demissie, an experienced importer-exporter with more than a decade in the business.
According to Ephrem, the industry used to rely on contract farming, the ECX commodity exchange, and vertical integration. In the latter, exporters bought goods directly from suppliers, often leveraging relationships established over the years. Payments were sent directly to the suppliers’ accounts. With the new directive, this transaction model has been scrapped.
“This is another headache, another pressure added on exporters,” he said, pointing to the need to hire extra staff to manage the new bureaucracy and processes. “The global market and competition are already big pressures on us.”
Despite his concerns, Ephrem plans to export more than 100 containers of oilseed products this season.
Other exporters, such as Sintayehu Kasahun, manager at Assefa Yesuf Export Plc for seven years, voice similar frustrations. His firm, which has been active in exports for more than 15 years, had always relied on advance payments to secure timely deliveries.
“We used to pay in advance so we could secure the required volume of product in time,” Sintayehu told Fortune.
Under the new directive, however, advance payment is no longer possible. Instead, all payments are made only after the transaction is completed and officially recorded with ECX.
“This adds more stress and bureaucracy for both sides,” Sintayehu said.
However, he admitted that in the past, problems such as exporters failing to pay on time or suppliers selling without payment had fuelled tensions and even forced exporters to take a loss on sales to clear up unpaid obligations. Some exporters took loans from banks and diverted the funds to other businesses. While Sintayehu acknowledged that the new approach might help prevent such misuse of export finance, he pointed out that profit margins in the sector remain razor-thin.
Most of the company’s profits had come from importing materials for plastic bottles and shoe soles, not from exports. Sintayehu’s company withdrew from exporting in 2023 due to internal and loan-related challenges, but he hopes to re-enter the business in 2026 with an export target of 500tns, valued at more than 40 million Br.
Suppliers, too, say the new directive is a mixed blessing.
According to Tiget Yismaw, a 10-year oilseed and pulse supplier from the Koakit market in Metema, while they will follow the new rules, this is not their preferred way of doing business.
“We’ve our own connections in this business and we do it with legal contracts,” he said, arguing that disputes and deception were rare among established partners.
Typically, suppliers receive partial advance payments from exporters to help finance collections in rural areas. The prohibition on advance payments, Tiget argued, will create cash shortages at the start of procurement. He expects to supply over 1,000tns in the next three months but warned that the new system “ties our hands” by delaying cash flow.
Demis Alemu, a supplier from Adama with five years of experience in the market, echoed these concerns. Suppliers preferred the old system because it was built on trust and strong business relationships.
“But now we can’t operate the way we used to,” he said. “Procedures are likely to be particularly difficult for small or new suppliers.”
Demis has more than 1,800tns of goods in storage, waiting for an exporter’s order.
Executives of the ECX insisted that the new rule is meant to ensure fairness and success.
Dawit Mura, corporate communications manager at ECX, stated the Exchange’s track record, where over 400 billion Br in market payments have been handled during the past 17 years, and nearly 30 billion Br in tax revenue has been collected through these trades. ECX now works with 26 banks to enable exporters and suppliers to open pay-in or pay-out accounts at branches close to their operations, hoping to smooth out the transition.
“The transparency helps ensure the government receives accurate tax records based on reliable data,” Dawit told Fortune. “Payment is deposited only after the exporter has received the goods and submitted a written settlement request, making it harder to conceal revenue.”
Exporters are now required to secure a net obligation report with full details on weight and price to get the Ministry’s approval for export.
ECX executives, such as Dawit, hope that the new process helps prevent stockpiling, a problem that can degrade oilseed quality and harm competitiveness in global markets.
The new rules win praise but also invite caution among tax experts, such as Biruk Nigussie. They believe the direct market system will make it far harder for traders to conceal revenue, since all payments are traceable and subject to the country’s tax laws. Biruk, who worked more than a decade at the Ministry of Revenues, observed that the outgoing system’s reliance on credit and advance payments, tools that suited exporters and suppliers, offered a degree of flexibility now lost.
“Restricting these mechanisms could limit trading flexibility and affect both sides,” said Biruk, urging officials to preserve elements of the trust-based system that have long defined the sector.
Ewnetu Teshome, a consultant and marketing manager at EXIM Group, echoed this argument. He saw how well-intentioned policies such as contract farming have often backfired, benefiting intermediaries rather than producers. While the idea was to let investors provide farmers with loans and supplies, and then buy their harvest at market price, the structure has been overtaken by widespread informal fees and bureaucratic obstacles.
Ewnetu blamed operational charges of up to 20 Br a quintal, demanded by district officials, and cumbersome clearance letters, which sometimes cost as much as 20,000 Br for a single page. He described a system in which exporters frequently bought from traders, rather than directly from farmers, and then paid additional money for official paperwork to register the shipment.
Ewnetu fears chaos in the evolving supplier and exporter linkage contract system, which has become common in the coffee and oilseeds industries. He observed that notices about procedures are issued and then withdrawn multiple times a month, leaving exporters unsure which rule applies. While federal trade officials promise to send clearance documents to ECX after contract ratification, suppliers claim they have already paid the newly introduced 2.5pc fee.
According to Ewnetu, the need for all parties to open ECX-monitored bank accounts has led to delays, while the issuance of new directives after procurement has begun is destabilising the market.
“At a time when global demand is falling and local buyers are scarce, suppliers are quoting 20,000 Br a quintal for sesame that recently sold at a loss for 14,000 Br,” he said.
Rehab Centres Buckle Under Strain as Health System Sidelines the Disabled
Rehabilitation centres are facing a crisis of capacity and care, buckling under a rising tide of demand, dwindling human resources, and increasingly unaffordable material costs.
The growing dysfunction of these critical institutions, particularly those providing prosthetic, orthotic, and physical rehabilitation services, has drawn the scrutiny of federal legislators, who on November 13, 2025, blamed the Ministry of Health (MoH) for neglecting the centres it oversees.
The Standing Committee for Health, Social Development, Culture, & Sports Affairs, chaired by Tadele Burka (PhD), sounded a public alarm in the halls of Parliament, characterising the state of the rehabilitation centres as “ownerless.” Members of Parliament (MPs) criticised the Health Ministry for failing to incorporate data on these centres into its reports, claiming the information submitted was often out of touch with operational realities.
Yalemwork Yitayew, Head of Bahidar physical rehabilitation centre told Fortune that two of the physical rehabilitation centres in Dessie and Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, are experiencing an average waiting time of around 12 days per patient. In more complicated cases, the delay could stretch to as long as 40 days. Yalemwork conceded that the same long-standing problems of shortages of materials, inadequate staff, low budgets, and a growing number of people seeking services have plagued the sector for years.
Federal health officials are developing a digital reporting system to enhance data accuracy, strengthen inspection procedures, and establish a central database. In the 2024/25 fiscal year, 24,038 people received technological support out of a target of 24,900, while 2,031 newly listed patients remain on the waiting list. Inside the centres, the situation has seen even more strains.
According to Yalemwork Yitayew, who heads the Bahir Dar Physical Rehabilitation Centre, occasional assistance from the Regional Health Bureau and the Women & Social Affairs Bureau was not nearly enough to make a difference. She recognised that limited human capacity, rising material costs, and inadequate funding have made it challenging for the facilities to provide proper patient care. As a result, patients are increasingly being turned away.
The centre in Dessie has 52 staff members, while Bahir Dar has 47, but Yalemwork admitted that this is still too low to meet expectations. Many of the workers are volunteers. The two centres share only two old vehicles, which limits mobility in a region where transportation is essential for staff and patients.
“Challenges are continuing even though we have some support,” she told Fortune. “The fact that we’ve only old cars makes it difficult to transport patients or even reach the centres.”
Her concerns were echoed by Mahteme Haile (PhD), an MP representing a constituency in Dessie who serves in the Standing Committee. According to her, the Ministry had submitted its quarterly reports on time but left out key components, including construction progress plans. She argued that rehabilitation centres seem to have been forgotten by the health authorities.
“We’ve confirmed this through our oversight work,” she said.
Mahteme recalled warning four years earlier that unless the centres were adequately supported, they would eventually cease operating due to a lack of essential supplies and equipment. The situation, she said, has now become worse. She described facilities lacking basic items such as bedding and mental healthcare services. She insisted that since physical rehabilitation centres fall directly under the Ministry of Health, its officials should “support them, give attention, and make improvements.”
For the Health Ministry’s officials, rehab centres now receive more support than before. The sector, with more than 21 rehabilitation centres nationwide, about half of which are run by the government and the rest by non-governmental organisations, previously had no dedicated desk and was led by assigned focal persons. The Ministry’s rehabilitation work is managed through a formal structure.
According to Simret Amha (MD), an expert working at the Ministry’s Speciality & Rehabilitation Desk, rehab services were initially outside the health sector and supervised by other federal institutions. Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Women & Social Affairs in 2018, the transition into the health sector began and was completed by 2019.
“Since then, the Ministry has focused on professional training, technical support, and routine inspections of regional rehabilitation centres,” Simret told Fortune. “Rehabilitation, like other health services, is now receiving support.”
Regional rehabilitation centres were receiving their budgets from their respective regional health bureaus and governments.
“There is technical, professional, and material support,” she said. “Yes, the challenges are real, but we are working on them.”
The centre in Bahir Dar operates with an annual operational budget, excluding staff salaries, of four million Birr. The termination of donor funds has added strain. Last year, it provided services to more than 8,000 service seekers. The same number is expected again by mid-year, but staff say they cannot serve that number. According to Yalemwork, employees are unable to upgrade their skills due to limited training opportunities.
“Upgrading is essential to increase their competence,” she said.
She attributed the lack of overtime pay, security concerns, and rising material costs to poor service delivery. Questions about why employees leave and whether patients are satisfied remain unanswered, making it difficult to close performance gaps.
“I request support from all sectors and usually receive it, but issues such as vehicles and other resources remain unresolved,” she told Fortune.
Demand has jumped sharply due to the conflict situation in the Regional State, where the centres could not keep up. According to Simret, some days unexpected crowds appear, creating long queues and forcing many patients to return home without receiving the services they need.
One of the largest rehab centres, the Ethiopian Prosthetic & Orthotic Service (EPOS) in Addis Abeba, is said to be performing relatively better.
The Ministry’s officials acknowledged that several problems remain unaddressed. The biggest is the shortage of skilled professionals. The Ministry has conducted assessments and is preparing curricula to launch training programs, which will begin with talks currently underway in the Oromia Regional State. Another major problem is the high cost of materials, most of which are imported and often supplied by donors.
Discussions with the Ministry of Finance to secure duty-free import privileges are underway.
The transition of the centres into the Ministry of Health came with its own gaps, particularly financial ones. But Ministry officials argued that the centres have nevertheless benefited from joining the health sector.
“Like other programs, rehabilitation has supervision, a budget, and the potential for meaningful improvement,” Simret said. “The needs are still great and remain to be addressed, but progress is being made toward lasting solutions.”
Evidence of the centres’ capacity shortages is clear to many patients.
Markon Temesgen, a driver for a non-governmental organisation earning 12,000 Br a month in Bahirdar, later he travelled to the Dessie rehabilitation centre a month ago to help his brother Amaha Temesgen, who had broken his leg. He found the centre crowded and staff overwhelmed.
“One employee told me that there were no available spaces and advised me to look for another place to ensure my brother received proper treatment,” he said.
He later moved his brother to Bahir Dar to seek better services, only to find similar conditions. He felt that the regional security crisis had increased the patient load, and the centres lacked the capacity to absorb the surge in patients.
“The centres are busy, and people are waiting,” he told Fortune. “If I waited too, the progress would be very slow.”
Markon eventually took his brother to Felege Hiwot Hospital in Bahir Dar. After arranging treatment, including crutches and other care, the total cost reached 30,000 Br. If rehabilitation centres had enough space, the full cost, including transport and food, would not have exceeded 10,000 Br.
Experts working in the field say these challenges are not surprising. Questions about readiness and capacity have existed for decades, and limited funding for the health sector makes shortages of materials and human resources unavoidable.
According to Asayehegn Tekeste, a public health expert with over 10 years of experience, rehabilitation centres are challenging to operate even in developed countries.
“It’s difficult in Ethiopia,” he said. “The number of people seeking services everywhere has increased unexpectedly, while the centres themselves have remained limited.”
Asayehegn believes raising budgets and reinforcing human resources could help the centres, although increasing financial allocations alone will not solve everything. Services ranging from mental healthcare to physical rehabilitation are now facing shortages of trained professionals, rising material costs, reduced donor support, high import expenses, and that most materials are imported.
Central Bank Opens Door to Fintech Innovation While Keeping a Foot on the Brake
Financial regulators have taken a step toward nurturing fintech innovation with the release of a draft directive for a regulatory sandbox.
The initiative forms part of a broader government push toward digitisation and financial inclusion, embedded within the national strategy known as “Digital Ethiopia.” The sandbox targets a well-known malaise in the financial sector of reproducing existing digital solutions with little variation. Banks and insurers have historically lagged in innovation, constrained by bureaucratic inertia and a lack of enabling regulation.
The sandbox seeks to loosen these constraints by allowing companies to test novel financial products in a controlled environment. The directive sets an application fee of 300,000 Br and requires applicants to assemble a project manager and team.
Frezer Ayalew, director of banking supervision at the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), disclosed that only products promising substantial improvement or transformation, rather than marginal variations, will be welcomed. In theory, this raises the bar for innovation while addressing structural inefficiencies, high costs, and service delivery gaps.
“If a company presents a product that solves a major problem or has improved a product in the system, it can practice in the sandbox,” Frazer told Fortune. “The main purpose is to promote financial innovation.”
The Director disclosed that products that streamline or transform current processes will also be eligible for testing under the new rule.
The draft directive, open for public comment in the coming month, seeks to use innovation as a lever to drive down costs and expand financial services to more Ethiopians. Central Bank authorities bet that technology can bring meaningful improvements to the sector’s reach and efficiency. Yet, for years, the lack of enabling regulation has forced most financial institutions to stick to well-worn paths, resulting in an endless parade of similar mobile apps for payments, digital micro-lending, and other offerings with only minor differences from one provider to the next.
The directive’s rollout comes as the federal government wraps up its National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which set ambitious targets to be achieved by 2025/2026.
The NBE wants to increase the share of adults with formal financial accounts from 45pc in 2020 to 70pc, while also nearly doubling the use of digital payments to 49pc over the same period. The strategy calls for extending formal insurance coverage to half a million smallholder crop and livestock farmers and boosting financial literacy from 47pc to 75pc among adults. Access to credit for micro, small, and medium enterprises is supposed to rise, with their share of private sector loans doubling from five percent this year.
Industry players, for the most part, are welcoming the draft directive, seeing it as an overdue opportunity to stretch the sector’s creative muscles.
According to Rediet Tsigebirehan, CEO of Arif Pay, the lack of a legal framework for new products has been a chronic constraint, often leaving innovative ideas in limbo.
“The word ‘no’ will not have a place in the sandbox,” he said.
For his company, crypto-related products are on the wish list for experimentation in the sandbox, as are cross-border payment solutions.
“People currently use many services like Netflix and healthcare in foreign countries, and seamless ways could also be made,” he said.
Insurance technology, too, is high on the agenda for Arif Pay.
But the optimism has its limits. While executives like Rediet are eager to bring crypto products to the table, Frazer was unequivocal. Since cryptocurrency is not permitted in Ethiopia, “the regulatory sandbox will not entertain it until it is allowed by law.”
Yisak Teka, a former senior advisor at NBE and now an independent consultant, saw the decision to exclude cryptocurrencies from testing as “wise and necessary,” given Ethiopia’s vulnerability to capital flight and the risks posed by global volatility. He, however, urged that blockchain technology should be embraced as a tool for secure record-keeping and settlement, especially in areas such as remittances.
“Remittance innovation is critical for the country’s economy, since faster and cheaper cross-border transfers could benefit households and strengthen foreign currency inflows,” he said.
Yisak’s biggest concern remains the financial sector’s chronic lack of innovation, especially in insurance, where he sees a lack of new products as detrimental because it leaves millions uninsured.
The insurance industry, in particular, embodies the magnitude of the challenge. Its penetration remains among the lowest on the continent, at 0.3pc of GDP in 2023, compared to a regional average of 1.57pc and Kenya’s 2.6pc, according to Deloitte’s April 2025 report. Despite its small size relative to the economy, the industry is hobbled by regulatory obstacles, slow innovation, and a stubbornly low rate of uptake.
Experts warn that without digital adoption and strategic partnerships, the country’s insurers risk falling further behind.
Fikru Tsegaye, executive officer for strategy and business development at Ethiopian Re-Insurance, attributed much of the industry’s underdevelopment to issues of affordability and access.
“Designing a product is not the only thing in ensuring technology, but practicability and feasibility are,” he said.
Although micro and agricultural insurance products have progressed to pilot testing, full-scale deployment remains elusive.
“Regulation and innovation have become the tale of the egg and the hen,” Fikru said. “When products are designed for the industry, most of the time, there are no regulations, posing one of the major challenges. This leads the technologies to infant mortality.”
He is hopeful that the sandbox will break this cycle.
Distribution costs for insurance products remain daunting, consuming as much as 60pc of total service costs due to the need for physical branches and in-person staff. New approaches, such as bundling insurance with other services, could help reduce premiums for consumers and lower costs for providers.
“The industry won’t be growing using old techniques and methodologies,” Fikru said.
The new regulatory sandbox is designed to serve as a proving ground for a wide range of innovations, including digital payments, credit, savings, insurance technologies, and capital markets. It allows financial institutions to test new products with actual customers under close regulatory supervision. Key consumer protections are built into the framework, with requirements for informed consent, clear product disclosures, rapid complaint handling, and safeguards for compensation.
The standard test period is set at 12 months, with the possibility of a one-year extension.
Not everyone will be able to participate, however. Amaha Tefera (PhD), developer of the Interest Rate Commission Agent Banking System (AIRCABS), finds himself on the outside looking in.
AIRCABS is a patented system in which banks serve as agents for investors, providing loan funding to entrepreneurs. The banks facilitate agreements between fund sellers and buyers, administer the loans, and take a commission from the credit price or dividend. Amaha has spent the last year pitching his product to both and the Central Bank, but the current draft excludes individual product owners from the sandbox unless they partner with a licensed financial institution.
“There should have been a place for at least patent holders,” Amaha said.
For now, he is seeking a bank to partner with, hoping his idea will find its way into the sandbox.
Yisak consider the draft directive as a sign of deeper change, a shift in culture as much as regulation.
“It signals a cultural shift in the financial sector, where regulators are finally opening doors to experimentation and innovation,” Yisak said.
He sees the sandbox as “transformational, breaking away from rigid frameworks that have historically stifled new ideas.” But, he warned that its credibility depends entirely on “strict enforcement.” Weak oversight, he cautioned, could quickly undermine public trust. He considers the sandbox’s 24-month limit on product testing reasonable, even if some complex innovations might find it tight.
“Indefinite testing would risk regulatory paralysis,” he said.
He pointed to the banking industry’s tendency toward uniformity, arguing that excessive uniformity exposed all banks to the same shocks. True inclusivity, he insisted, will only come if profit incentives are aligned with reaching underserved populations, not only the urban population.
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