Ethiopia's Debt Stress Tones Down to Moderate

Ahmed Shide


Ethiopia's Debt Stress Tones Down to Moderate

Ethiopia's debt stress level has improved from high risk to moderate as of January due to loan rescheduling by China, according to the Ministry of Finance. Ethiopia has 39.1 billion dollars of outstanding debt, of which 16.8 billion dollars is foreign debt, while the remaining is domestic debt. The debt stress level improved after China rescheduled the loan payments period of the railway from five years to 10 years and also extended the grace period of the loans to 20 years. In addition, China has also changed its commercial loans to concessional loans, according to Haji Ibsa, communications director at the Ministry. In the first half of this fiscal year, the country has closed 54.5 billion Br in loans and grants, which is roughly on track with last year's numbers. Of the total value, 28.8 billion Br was in loans, while the remaining is in grants. The loans and the grants came from bilateral and multilateral sources.


Radar

Central Bank's Auction Sends Dollar Soaring to 135 Br

A dollar value against the Birr exceeds 135 during an auction the Central Bank held last week, offering 60 million dollars. Close to 27 banks made their bid where the weighted average was 135.61 Br for a dollar. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced the results of the special foreign exchange auction, the second since monetary authorities floated the forex regime in early August last year. Last week's result reflects a weaker Birr than in the first when the average rate was 107.9 Br....


Radar

Ethio Telecom Bids to Dominate Ethiopia's Digital Future

An array of services from digital livestock tracking, push-to-talk/video communications to cloud-based banking, an education management system (EMS), and enterprise resource Planning (ERP) are available from the state-owned Ethio telecom. Ethio telecom has introduced seven new cloud-based digital services last week at the Skylight Hotel, on Africa Avenue (Bole Road), pledging to transform business operations, financial services, and education management. The company said that these solutions...


Radar

Addis International Convention Centre Inaugurates

The much-anticipated Addis International Convention Centre, spanning 40 hectares, was officially inaugurated last week. It is set to become the country's largest conference venue, designed to host both national and international events. The centre features two large halls, each accommodating 3,000 to 4,000 people. It also includes eight smaller meeting rooms, bringing its total capacity to 10,000 attendees. Two hotels, with a combined 1,000-bed capacity, will serve both local and internationa...