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Jan 28 , 2023

Can Mamo Overhaul the Central Bank? It’s Long Overdue.

It is not common to see an appointment for a senior federal government office stir debates and controversies. Parliamentarians may grumble about the background and experiences of ministers during confirmation sessions, as they did last week. Ten of them voted against the confirmations of Alemu Se...

Jan 21 , 2023

What Organising, Operating Principles Prosperitians Follow?

Eyob Tekalign, state minister for Finance, took to social media platforms last week to sanitise the speculative market of an impending devaluation of the Birr against a basket of major currencies. He tried to debunk the widely and long-held market perception of an “inevitable” devaluation as “completely unfounded”. However, Eyob's message might have come too late to make the impact he may have desired to see. The State Minister's belated message signalling the market instead reveals how the administration he serves is trailing behind in responding to market realities in real-time an...


Jan 14 , 2023

Giving Ethiopia’s Tactical Peace Strategic Substance

The longing for normalcy and a semblance of individual and collective security in Ethiopia has been frustratingly long. However, if the quest for peace has anyone personifying it, Derartu Tulu, an Olympian, would have no match for her courage in speaking against violence and defending peace. She spoke truth to power – and to all those that dance to its tune – not when rhetorical peace was the day's melody and the official narrative favoured it. She dared and stood for victims when it was too unpopular and with consequences in widespread backlash. Derartu could have been the face of a...


Jan 7 , 2023

Worldview May Drive the Administrations' Warped Priorities

The hallmark of Ethiopia's contemporary leaders could be a fascination with grandeur and beauty. From Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's (PhD) projects of passion – such as Unity, Africa and Entoto parks – and Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdissa's announcement of launching “Shaggar” as a “future city” to Mayor Adanech Abiebei's declaration to transform Addis Abeba to a “smart city”, the aspiration appears to be in abundance. It would be unreasonable for the officials and their cohorts to aspire for a better future for the people and the country they are entrusted to lead...

Editorials

Dec 31 , 2022

Corruption Alarms Need Serious Measures

A change of guards in 2018 gave Ethiopians hope for better circumstances from the preceding unrest, with corruption as one of the triggering forces. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has addressed the Parliam...

Dec 24 , 2022

Policy Unpredictability Pernicious, When Frequented Dreadful

Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But he also has the unfortunate reputation for sighing ordinances that disrupt businesses, if not cause self-inflicted...

Dec 17 , 2022

Reforming Forex Regime Demands Foresight, Courage

In his recent question-time with members of Parliament, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) painted a rosy picture of the economy that staggered even his ardent supporters. The Prime Minister claimed E...

Dec 10 , 2022

Accountability, Justice: State Duties in Tall Order

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), under the leadership of Daniel Bekele (PhD), issued a statement last week pronouncing what it described as "grave violations of human rights" unfolding in...

Dec 4 , 2022

Survival Upstaging Moral, Societal Values

Last week saw enraged university lecturers' threatening to stage a strike. They addressed their complaints to Parliament and the Ministry of Education, bitterly complaining about the rising cost of li...

Nov 26 , 2022

To Liberalize Finance Holy, Regulating It Is Divine

In the wake of the liberalization of the telecom sector, Ethiopian authorities have made a milestone move opening the door for foreign capital to enter the financial sector. In effect, people talk mor...

Nov 19 , 2022

Restore Faith in Constitutional Institutions to Achieve Social Cohesion

The rounds of talks to end wars in Ethiopia held in Pretoria, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya, have outcomes exceeding the expectations of many, from naysayers to pundits and from mediators to the ne...

Nov 12 , 2022

Nairobi Must Double Down on Pretoria

Two weeks have passed since negotiators from Ethiopia's federal government and the TPLF reached a deal that brought the war in Tigray to a lull. So have the talks moved from Pretoria to Nairobi and fr...

Nov 5 , 2022

Pretoria Deal Represents Courage, Despair and Anxiety

Hardly were people prepared for the deals announced last week from Pretoria, South Africa. For many, it was a bolt from the blue moment. Negotiators representing the federal government and those of...

Oct 30 , 2022

Pretoria Can Pivot an Arduous Path to Peace

Africa's brutal war in the continent's largest country - in population - continues to rage unabated. This week, the civil war marks its second commemoration. The carnage it resulted, the suffering...

Oct 22 , 2022

Embargo on Imports a Respite, Not Antidote

Suppose one policy move can reveal the degree to which Ethiopia's economy is in the chasms of disquiet. In that case, hardly any matches the measure federal authorities took last week capping imports...

Oct 15 , 2022

Telco Liberalisation Offers Lessons for Financial Opening

Last week saw a milestone in Ethiopia's telecom industry. For over a century, the industry has been the sole domain of the state-owned Ethio telecom, with a captive market. Safaricom Ethiopia Plc has...

Oct 8 , 2022

Central Bank Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb

It is fitting that the financial sector and the monetary regime are riddled with reforms, the former more than the latter. The most recent could be establishing a federal regulatory agency separate fr...

Oct 1 , 2022

Rip the Band-Aid Off. Float the Birr. Liberalize Capital Account

The foreign exchange market is seeing a war of attrition, with the Dollar gradually taking out its opponents as its strength grows unmatched. Neither is the green buck taking any hostages. A blitzk...

Sep 24 , 2022

Why Ethiopia's Economy Catches Cold When Europe Sneezes

Look no further than the flower industry to appreciate the importance of the European market to underdeveloped economies such as Ethiopia. Within a decade and a half, the country has shot up the list...

Sep 17 , 2022

Long Overdue Finance Sector Opening Not Silver Bullet

The debate shortly after the Council of Ministers nodded a bill to open the financial sector to foreign capital was emblematic of how the economic discourse has deteriorated. Some thought this entails...


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Commentaries | Jan 28,2023

How Not to Fight Inflation

Life Matters | Jan 28,2023

When Life Gives Lemons, Make Lemonade

My Opinion | Jan 28,2023

The Poverty of Anti-Capitalism

Sunday with Eden | Jan 28,2023

Rooted Problems Require Modern Solution

Agenda | Jan 28,2023

FUND STRAPPED YOUTH

Editorial | Jan 28,2023

Can Mamo Overhaul the Central Bank? It’s Long Overdue.


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Can Mamo Overhaul the Central Bank? It’s Long Overdue.

It is not common to see an appointment for a senior federal government office stir debates...

Editorial | Jan 28 , 2023

Trailblazer Energy Firm LydetCo Goes Off-Grid

On the capital's outskirts, at about 400 meters from the Ayat roundabout, sits a sparkling...

Featured | Jan 28 , 2023 . By MUNIR SHEMSU

FUND STRAPPED YOUTH

Last week saw thousands of young individuals queueing at three branches of the Development...

Agenda | Jan 28 , 2023 . By MUNIR SHEMSU

"MISS" MATCHED APPOINTMENTS

In what has become common in the past four years, a new round of nominations was put befor...

Fortune News | Jan 28 , 2023