Cabinet Greenlights Stock Market Establishment Bill

Dec 26 , 2020


The Council of Ministers approved the establishment of a stock market early last week, December 22, 2020. The capital market is expected to support the development of the national economy by mobilising capital, promoting financial innovation, and sharing investment risks. The stock market will be managed by a Capital Market Authority, which will report to parliament. The Authority will supervise and regulate new financial products such as bonds and stocks on the trading platform and grant licenses for the operation to securities brokers and dealers. It will be comprised of seven members, with a single member each drawn from the central bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to three members representing the private sector and non-governmental institutions, as well as a CEO. Disputes in the market will be handled by the formation of a Capital Market Tribunal to appeal against the decision of the Authority. Under the appointment of the Prime Minister, the Tribunal will have five members with a chairperson and a vice-chairperson. The chair and vice-chair of the Tribunal should comply with the requirements High Court judges fulfil, while the rest of the members need only have experience in law, commerce or accounting.


Radar

LOFTY CONSTRUCTS

A painting depicts traditional farming equipment at the Science Museum around the Arat Kilo area. Since the seizing of power by the current administration, large-scale architectural projects marked by grandeur have proliferated across the capital. The satellite city being built in the Yeka mountains, which is set to cost around 600 billion Br, according to the Prime Minister, is one such project yet to see the light of day. Some estimates put the plot size for the project at around 503hct despit...


Radar

CLEAN BILL

A queue for diagnostics at the nation's largest state-owned hospital, Black Lion. As the health sector is largely funded by development partners from abroad, decreased support as donors shied away due to the war in the North has required the suspension of several new projects. Social health Insurance slated for next year was scraped due to a budgetary shortfall of five billion Birr. With the physician-to-patient ratio titering at around 1:30,000, queues in public hospitals are commonplace in Eth...


Radar

ACRID GROUNDS

A street vendor puts up pepper for sale around the Lideta area. With agricultural produce accounting for the largest share of the nation's GDP at around 40pc, setbacks in the delivery of fertilizer have become a source of strife in rural Ethiopia. Only a third of the scheduled fertilizer of 1.3 million quintals has been distributed into the hands of farmers this year. This is despite the year being one in which the government claims to have met local demand for wheat and started exporting. Low p...