Feature

FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS ADVERTORIALS FORTUNE AUDIO Fortune Careers TRADE AFRICA Election 2026 New

Aug 1 , 2026 . By BIZUAYEHU ABIY

SMALL-NOTES SQUEEZE WORN, TORN, NEVER RETURNED

For Hirut Ayalew, a small shop owner around Ferensay Legasiyon, the shortage of usable small-denomination notes has become a daily headache. She sometimes turns customers away, or lets them take goods on informal credit, simply because she cannot make change. The torn and faded 10 Br notes moving...

Jul 25 , 2026 . By BIZUAYEHU ABIY and TIGIST MEKONNEN

Chasing Excellence in the Summer, Raising Questions Over Who It Leaves Behind

For as long as her daughter had been in school, the summer break belonged to the family. Every year, the mother, who lives in Addis Abeba's Lemi Kura District and asked for anonymity for her and her daughter's identities for fear of reprisal, packed the holiday with visits to extended relatives. This year, for the first time, the ritual collapsed. Her daughter, now in Grade 12 at a private school, was told to report for summer tutorials, and the condition left no room to argue. “The School gave us no choice," the mother said. "They made it mandatory that if my daughter didn't attend th...

Jul 19 , 2026 . By GEBRU KAHSAY and WORKINEH DIRIBSA

EL NINO MEETS A REGION EMPTIED BY WAR

Weldu Yiheysh, a farmer in Shibta District of Enderta Wereda in the Southeast Zone, was still waiting to sow last week. The rainy season should be the most important stretch of his year, the weeks on which a whole household's food supply depends. But the rain has not come. “Most of the district has had none at all,” he told Fortune. "In the few areas where rain fell, and farmers managed to sow, the rains have now stopped, and the crops that were sown are at risk.” In the Tigray Regional State, farmers like Weldu watch the sky. However, well into the planting season, it stays stu...

Jul 12 , 2026 . By GEBRU KAHSAY and WORKINEH DIRIBSA

A Sweet Name Returns, on Machinery from the Past

For generations of Ethiopian children, the crackle of a colourful wrapper and the sweet taste of Desta Candy stood for small pleasures. Sold in neighbourhood shops in towns across the country, the confectionery known widely as “Desta Keremela” - happiness in Amharic - settled into everyday childhood memory before it vanished from the shelves for more than a decade. After a 14-year absence, the candy has come back. It was revived by Wonji, one of the eight sugar factories operating in the country, with production resuming in late February this year. The return has been anything but sm...

Feature

May 31 , 2026

Addis Abeba Pours a New Story in Every Cup, Where Tradition Meets Global Influence

Customers settle into a carefully curated space of dark wood, black accents, muted green furnishings, and striking wall art that brightens the cafe's earthy palette. Behind the counter, baristas move...

May 17 , 2026

Betrothal Ritual Falls Prey to the Event Economy

When Abigiya Tewodros sat for her traditional bethrothal intercession, locally known as "Shimgilina", her mind moved between the lifelong promise before her and the video that had shaped the day. T...

Apr 26 , 2026

CAKE Takes the Place of Wine in Addis Abeba’s Social Visits

Weeks after the Easter holiday, Addis Abeba has slipped back into its ordinary pace. The holiday crowds have dissipated, shopfronts are quieter, and families have returned to work, school and routine...

Apr 10 , 2026

Addis Dances to a Global Pulse as Salsa Scene Swirls Across the City

Throughout the week, from Monday to Sunday, people from across Addis Abeba, cutting across backgrounds and routines, gather to dance Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, and Kompa, styles shaped by Afro-Caribbean...

Apr 10 , 2026

EASTER BAZAARS Feel the Squeeze as Rents Rise, Shoppers Fade

Ye'absira Ayele, a businessman from Merkato, sat behind a rack of women's clothes last week, waiting for a rush that never came. The garments around him were neatly arranged inside the Addis Abeba...

Apr 5 , 2026

The Hospital They Dreamed to Build Reclaimed Before It Could Rise

Girma Tefera, a professor and vascular surgeon, once harboured a quiet dream of retirement that involved more than an ordinary rest. He imagined finishing his career in a state-of-the-art medical cent...

Feb 21 , 2026

A REGISTERED SHELTER. A NOISE COMPLAINT. HUNDREDS DEAD DOGS

On Friday, February 6, city officials and security personnel entered a dog shelter in Aqaqi Qality after a relocation order triggered by noise complaints, according to shelter managers. Within hours,...

Feb 15 , 2026

When Love Gets Pricier in the Land of Roses

At 28, Kaleab Fekade thought he understood the cost of romance in Addis Abeba. He has been buying Valentine's flowers for years, watching the city fold the imported ritual of February 14 into its own...

Jan 24 , 2026

Handmade Dreams Meet Imported Realities in Jewellery Trade

Armed with 12,000 Br and a flair for the unconventional, Addishiywet Ermiyas, 28, embodies a new breed of jewellery makers. Her medium, epoxy resin, glitter, and paint, requires little beyond craft an...

Jan 17 , 2026

Medical Plazas Signal a New Era for Health Tourism, Local Care

In the first week of January, Habari Medical Plaza opened its doors in Addis Abeba, staking its place at the centre of the new push into medical tourism. The facility, established by Akeza Teame (M...

Jan 10 , 2026

A Digital Awakening Faces an Uneven Road

Over the past years, Ethiopia's artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem has quietly emerged from obscurity into the public spotlight, led by pioneers such as iCog Labs and newcomers like Addis AI and H...

Jan 3 , 2026

Disenchanted, Overcharged Holiday Bazaars Lose Their Spark

Among the rows of decorated stalls at the Christmas holiday bazaar held at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre near Mesqel Square, newlywed Ekram Sofian sits behind her booth, carefully arranging jars o...

Nov 2 , 2025

They Melt Batteries to Make a Living, Inhale Poison Without Knowing

On a sun-dappled stretch of Swaziland St., near St. Paul Hospital, north of Addis Abeba, where the clang of spanners competes with the chorus of children playing, a quiet threat brews inside open gara...

Oct 5 , 2025

TRADITION THRIVES AS COSTS CLIMB

As dawn broke over Addis Abeba last week, the city's arteries pulsed not with the usual weekday urgency but with a slower and surer rhythm. A tide of people draped in black, red, and white shawls conv...

Sep 27 , 2025

THE PRICE OF PLAY Football, privatisation, and the battle for turf in Addis Abeba

On a crisp weekday morning at Friendship Park, nestled along Taitu Street, Awel Hamza stood hunched over, hands resting on his knees after a spirited two-hour football match. A school-bus driver by pr...

Sep 27 , 2025

Knives Out in Markets as Ritual Meets Retail

On the eve of the Ethiopian New Year, Shola Market in Addis Abeba turns into a vortex of commerce and tradition. The pungent mix of hay, eucalyptus smoke, and blood signals not only the season's frenz...

Columns

Commentaries | Aug 08,2026

In Going Digital, the State Designs for the Citizen It Wants to Have

The World Bank asks readers to picture a mother in rural Ethiopia who has never held a ban...

Editorial | Aug 8 , 2026

SMALL-NOTES SQUEEZE WORN, TORN, NEVER RETURNED

For Hirut Ayalew, a small shop owner around Ferensay Legasiyon, the shortage of usable sma...

Featured | Aug 1 , 2026 . By BIZUAYEHU ABIY

The Storm Passed, the Freight Bill Did Not

A year after a violent storm tore through one of Ethiopia's major flower-growing clusters...

Agenda | Aug 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE

National Bank Forces Anbesa Bank Board Re-run, All Incumbents Out

Anbesa Bank has elected an entirely new board of directors, nine months after the Board it...

Fortune News | Aug 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE

SMALL-NOTES SQUEEZE WORN, TORN, NEVER RETURNED

Chasing Excellence in the Summer, Raising Questions Over Who It Leaves Behind