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Aug 15 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER

Ethio-post Turns Branches into Banks as Banks Close Theirs

Ethio-post is preparing to turn its thousands of branches into banking agents, allowing customers to deposit and withdraw cash, pay utility bills, and access accounts held at any commercial bank. It is the boldest bet yet that a 132-year-old letter carrier can remake itself as a financial network...

Aug 15 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE

Prosecutors Charge Seven Alleging Amhara Bank's Credit Controls Bend for One Borrower

Federal prosecutors have charged seven defendants over a set of foreign-trade deals they allege drained more than 137 million Br from Amhara Bank, opening one of the most serious governance cases yet against a private commercial bank only four years old. The sum is modest beside the Bank's balance sheet, yet the charge sheet describes something larger than a single loss. It is about a credit facility that allegedly bent, step by step, for one borrower. Brought before the Fifth Anti-Corruption Bench of the Federal High Court, the charges accuse five former executives of the Bank of “abu...


Aug 16 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE

Supreme Court Widens Shield for Lawyers Fighting the VAT

Justices at the Federal Supreme Court widened the shield they are holding over lawyers fighting a tax the Ministry of Finance wants them to collect, extending interim protection from the value-added tax (VAT) directive to hundreds more advocates while the directive's legality is decided. The Fourth Civil Appellate Bench upheld a temporary injunction for 190 lawyers and, further still, protected advocates in the Amhara, Sidama, South Ethiopia, and Benishangul-Gumuz regional states from enforcement. The ruling turns a narrow dispute into a broad one. What began with seven lawyers has becom...


Aug 16 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER

Central Bank Buys Gold High, Sells It Lower

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) bought far more gold than it managed to sell for during the past fiscal year. It booked 275.2 billion Br from gold sales against 315.6 billion Br in purchase, refinery and related costs, a gap of 40.3 billion Br in its audited accounts. A year earlier, the same lines were a rounding error by comparison, with 4.98 billion Br in sales against 6.92 billion Br in costs, a difference of 1.94 billion Br. The gap is the price of a strategy, not an accident of one. The Central Bank has made itself the dominant buyer in the domestic gold market, and the cost...

Fortune News

Minister Threatens to Blacklist Traders Who Break Export Deals

Kassahun Gofe (PhD), minister of Trade & Regional Integration (MoTRI), is preparing his toughest response yet to exporters and foreign buyers who walk away from signed contracts, after complaints...

Aug 16 , 2026

Nine Universities Near Autonomy Have a Ministry Freezing Their Assets

Federal education authorities have frozen the hands of nine public universities in the final stage of their move to autonomy, barring them from selling or borrowing against university and government a...

Aug 9 , 2026

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 replaces, following regulators' rejection of that earlier vote. Officials of the National Bank of Ethiopia (N...

The Hotel That Housed the OAU Meets the Wrecking Ball

Ethiopia Hotel, one of the country's oldest hospitality establishments and a landmark on Yohannes St., has begun to come down, marking the start of a major redevelopment of the historic property. D...

Aug 9 , 2026

Tax on Alcohol, Tobacco Worked. Study Finds That May Be the Problem

The excise-tax reform on alcohol and tobacco has done much of what it was made to do. Prices have increased, purchases of legally sold drinks and cigarettes have fallen, and government revenue has gro...

Aug 9 , 2026

Bus Firms Spend Hundreds of Millions, Hit Bank, Tariff, Charging Walls

Three inter-city transport companies have spent 450 million Br on new vehicles to meet the federal government's fleet requirements. The operators are working to replace about 1,600 vehicles under a...

Aug 9 , 2026

Power Utility Spends Past Its Record Year

The state utility company, the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU), spent hundreds of billions of Birr last year, outrunning its own record revenue, as it poured money into network expansion, maintenance...

Aug 1 , 2026

Right-sizing Tests Addis Abeba University’s Promise for Autonomy

Addis Abeba University set out to win its institutional autonomy. Two years in, that freedom has cost hundreds of its own staff their place in it. Close to 500 administrative workers and 50 academi...

Aug 1 , 2026

Shipping Lines Charts Biggest-Ever Fleet Plan After Buying None Planned for the Year

The state-owned Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics (ESL) unveiled its most ambitious fleet plan yet last week, a push to add 16 vessels and lift the cargo it handles by 161pc through 2031. The comp...

Ethiopian Eyes Bigger on Cargo as Costs Outrun Record Revenue

The Ethiopian Airlines Group (EAG) will take delivery of eight Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 next week, the clearest sign yet that Africa's largest Carrier is doubling down on cargo. It does so at a t...

Aug 1 , 2026

Court Freezes Noah Flats as Buyers Open Second Front

Judges at the Federal High Court have ordered that 27 apartments at Noah Victory Apartment, near Women Square, remain held. For one month, none can be sold, exchanged, or transferred to anyone else, g...

Aug 1 , 2026

Addis Abeba Promises an ID Card in a Day, For Triple the Fee

The Addis Abeba City Administration is pushing identity-card printing closer to where people live, with its officials promising a permanent card within one working day once a pilot scheme is fully run...

Jul 25 , 2026

Global Bank Board Suspends 18 as Deposit Probe Widens

Global Bank's Board of Directors have overhauled top management, after suspending several executives as an investigation into the Bank's deposit and liquidity practices widens. Tesfaye Boru (PhD),...

Jul 25 , 2026

Hulu Sport Wins in Court, But Stays Closed

Judges at the Federal High Court have overturned the National Lottery Administration's decision to suspend Hulu Sport, one of the country's leading sports betting operators, finding the regulator's ac...

Federal Regulation Grants Receipt for Farmers, a New Product for the Banks

A newly enacted regulation by the Council of Ministers lets eligible producers pledge certified warehouse receipts as collateral for short-term loans covering up to 70pc of the appraised value of thei...

Jul 25 , 2026

Trucks Impounding Puts Fuel Carriers, Regulators at Legal Odds

A fuel tanker carrying tens of thousands of litres was confiscated after its driver allegedly siphoned four litres, leaving the vehicle's owner without his main source of income and facing a demand of...


Most read

Columns

Commentaries | Aug 14,2026

Europe Needs the Plot, Ethiopia Needs the Price

Life Matters | Aug 14,2026

A Body Learns Itself from the Inside

My Opinion | Aug 14,2026

Ethiopia Digitises Its Money, Not Its Factories

Sunday with Eden | Aug 14,2026

The Plate on the Screen Isn't the Plate on the Table

Agenda | Aug 15,2026

Addis Abeba Builds Over Its Waterways. Now the Floods Find a Way Back

Editorial | Aug 14,2026

Listen to the Poets Before Bulldozers Narrow Addis Abeba's Memory


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Listen to the Poets Before Bulldozers Narrow Addis Abeba's Memory

Aschalew Fetene, known as “Ardi” and admired for his poetic depth, has built a time ca...

Editorial | Aug 14 , 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

Addis Abeba Builds Over Its Waterways. Now the Floods Find a Way Back

Floodwater had erased the edges of the road when Simon Nahom left Sunday school in the Jem...

Agenda | Aug 15 , 2026 . By FITSUM TADESSE

Prosecutors Charge Seven Alleging Amhara Bank's Credit Controls Bend for One Borrower

Federal prosecutors have charged seven defendants over a set of foreign-trade deals they a...

Fortune News | Aug 15 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE