Board Announces Tentative Polling Schedule

Oct 31 , 2020


The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced the tentative polling date of the sixth national election to be held between the end of May and early June 2021. Voter registration is expected to take place from mid-January to February, while candidate registration and campaigns are tentatively scheduled from early to mid-February and to the third week of February until the election, respectively. The tentative date was announced at a consultative meeting organised by the Board for civil society organisations and media. During the meeting, participants deliberated on some of the precautionary measures to be taken while voting during the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In line with this, the Board requested an additional budget of 1.1 billion Br for precautionary measures and deployment of additional people at polling stations. Training of poll workers is expected to take place between mid-December and mid-February, according to the schedule. The Board had initially scheduled to hold the general elections on August 29, 2020, while election campaigns would have been held from May 28 to August 24 prior to the onset of the pandemic.


Radar

Regional Development Banks Tie-up for Private Sector Growth

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Trade Development Bank Group (TDB) signed a 100-million-dollar disbursement for a hybrid capital instrument last week on the sidelines of the African Union summit. Admassu Tadesse, president and managing director of TDB Group, and Sidi Ould Tah (PhD), president of BADEA were the signatories at the event attended by Central Bank Governor Mamo Mihretu, CEO of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange Tilahun Kassahun (PhD), and Deputy Chairperson of...


Radar

National Bank Reports Five-Year Low Inflation, Record-High Exports

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), in its six-month snapshot on monetary and external sector developments, reports that inflation has dropped to 15.5pc, the lowest in five years and a 13.9pc decline from last year's 29.4pc rate. Headline inflation stood at 34.5pc during the same period in 2022. The report also shows a sharp decline in food inflation, which fell by 16.6pc, from 32.3pc in January 2024 to 15.7pc in January 2025. Non-food inflation dropped by 10.2pc, from 25.3pc last year to 1...


Radar

Horn Initiative Boosts Regional Development Agenda

A total of 20 projects worth three billion dollars are currently being implemented in Ethiopia under the Horn of Africa Initiative, which held a performance review platform last week. This initiative, established in 2019, seeks to economically integrate Horn of Africa countries through development projects. Finance Minister Ahmed Shide accentuated the initiative's goals of enhancing infrastructure connectivity, strengthening trade and economic integration, building resilience to natural and man...