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Sep 15 , 2025 . By AMANUEL BEKELE

Monument to National Ambition, Geopolitical Agency

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa's largest hydroelectric power project, was formally inaugurated last week, ending a 14-year journey marked by intense national pride, financial improvisation, and geopolitical contention. Built on the Blue Nile in western Ethiopia, the 170-metre and...

Sep 13 , 2025

MEGA-DAM POWERS UP

The initial budget in 2011 was 80 billion Br, but this figure swelled to a revised cost of 240 billion Br by 2024, a challenge that was exacerbated by currency depreciation and devaluation which saw the exchange rate increase almost ten-fold since the project began. Beyond energy, the reservoir is expected to yield 10,000tn of fish annually and create 70 islands for tourism. Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) reported a record 75.4 billion Br in revenue, a threefold increase largely driven by the GERD, which contributed one third of the total electricity output. In 2019, a decision was ma...


Sep 15 , 2025 . By YITBAREK GETACHEW

City Cabinet Overhauls Construction Rules Despite Developer Frustration

The Addis Abeba City Cabinet has enacted a landmark reform to its long-contentious setback regulations, a policy city officials say is meant to modernise urban governance and unlock long-stalled development. The decision, made public through an official circular issued on August 23, 2025, marks a sharp departure from a rigid legal regime that many property developers and experts have criticised as unworkable. The revised law, now in force across the capital's districts, comes after years of growing tension between the city administration and private property owners over plot eligibility, pe...


Sep 13 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER

Hospital Charts Capital Market Debut During Push for Public-Private Venture

Washington Health Care (WHC), a private healthcare provider founded by U.S.-trained physician Markos Feleke (MD), is preparing to go public and break ground on a 240-million-dollar tertiary hospital. The company, incorporated in 2013 with three million dollars in capital, is now exploring a dual-track expansion strategy through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and a public-private partnership (PPP) with the government. Markos, who retains 80pc ownership in the company, co-founded WHC with fellow physicians Fasil Tefera (MD) and Gasmelbari Mustafa (MD). Since its inception, WHC has expanded...

Fortune News

Banks Face Mounting Pressure to Embrace Sustainability as Capital Market Opens

Banks are facing growing pressure to make sustainability central to their operations as regulators and international partners push for stronger disclosure and transparent reporting. Lenders are being...

Sep 13 , 2025

Coffee Sector Faces Tough New Rules Targeting Export Diversion

The coffee industry, long a symbol of national pride and a vital source of foreign exchange, is undergoing a sweeping regulatory overhaul, stamping out systemic abuse and restoring global trust in exp...

Sep 7 , 2025

Addis Abeba's Land Auction Spurs Bidding Frenzy During Affordability Concerns

Addis Abeba's sixth public land lease auctions after a five-year pause delivered mixed signals for the capital's volatile real estate market. While the highest land price plunged nearly 58pc from its...

Sep 7 , 2025

Soverign Fund's Foray into Gold Mining Sparks Debate Over Risk Appetite, Strategy

Brook Taye (PhD), the chief executive of the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), is steering the sovereign wealth fund into uncharted terrain. EIH's latest equity injection into Akobo Minerals, a Nor...

Sep 7 , 2025

Hundreds Evicted Overnight in Atena Tera as City Eyes Modernisation

For decades, Shemiz Tera in the Addis Ketema District of Atena tera has been a thriving hub for the garment trade, which has become a vital source of income for nearly 500 households. The busy mark...

Sep 7 , 2025

Homebuyers Sue Over Housing Scheme as 29M Br Dispute Unfolds

A dream of affordable homeownership has dissolved into a courtroom showdown for hundreds of Ethiopians, as 236 people filed a class-action lawsuit against Key Housing Finance Solutions and Bunna Insur...

Sep 7 , 2025

Sudden Tax Overhaul Jolts Business Community, Fuels Confusion Over VAT Transition

The federal tax officials' abrupt tax reform, which suspends the long-standing Turnover Tax (TOT) and replaces it with an expansive Value Added Tax (VAT) regime, has ushered in confusion, liquidity st...

Sep 7 , 2025

DESERTS, DREAMS, AND DIGNIFIED CAPITALISM

They arrive from different corners of the nascent capital-market frontier, but when Hana Tehelku, Wolde Bulto, Zemedeneh Negatu and Tewedaj Gezahegn speak, a shared preoccupation surfaces. Survival se...

Aug 30 , 2025

DASHEN BANK'S NEW REMITTANCE GATEWAY ENTERS THE RING

At a high-profile event held at the Sheraton Addis last week, the launch of Dashen Bank's new digital remittance platform was marked by the attendance of notable figures in the financial sector. Mamo...

Aug 30 , 2025

Ethio telecom's Dividend Plan Draws Ire as Shareholders Wait

Ethio telecom, one of the long-standing state-owned monopolies, has publicly committed to paying dividends to individual shareholders. Under the three-year "Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028...

Private Colleges Face Reckoning Under Tough New Standards

Federal education officials have issued a stern warning to private colleges, where a large number of institutions are at risk of losing their permits if they fail to meet tough new standards introduce...

Aug 30 , 2025

EIC's Financials Soar on Investment Income, Despite Record Claims

The Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC) delivered a robust pre-tax profit of 1.98 billion Br, comfortably surpassing its target. The performance was largely underpinned by a substantial 1.27 billion...

Aug 30 , 2025

Authorities' Crackdown Jolts Small Businesses During Regulatory Blitz

The private sector is under unprecedented scrutiny as federal trade officials launch one of its most extensive enforcement drives in recent memory. Framed as a response to rampant non-compliance, the...

Aug 23 , 2025

Regulators Tighten the Noose on Fuel Market

The fuel industry is facing its biggest shakeup in decades as federal regulators roll out a sweeping directive weeks after lawmakers ratified a new petroleum marketing law. The changes bring real-t...

Aug 23 , 2025

IE Networks, Liyana Healthcare Lead First Wave of Public Listing Aspirants

Two domestic companies, IE Networks and Liyana Healthcare, have emerged as the first to complete the IPO readiness assessment under the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority's (ECMA) IPO Clinic. Backe...

Aug 23 , 2025

Public Hospitals to Outsource Medical Services Under New Financing Rule

A new directive authorises state-run hospitals and clinics to outsource not only non-clinical support services but, for the first time, core medical services as well. Health officials say the policy,...


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In Climate Talks, Africa Mortgages Tomorrow Simply to Survive Today

At its launch in Nairobi two years ago, the Africa Climate Summit was billed as the forum...

Editorial | Sep 13 , 2025

Digital Payments Reshape Economy While Service Workers Lose Out

The way the Birr moves is changing, and with it, habits that have shaped daily life for ge...

Featured | Sep 14 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE

Student Tax ID Push Triggers Logjam

The yellow flush of Aday Abeba flowers has returned to Addis Abeba, heralding the arrival...

Agenda | Sep 13 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE and YITBAREK GETACHEW

Monument to National Ambition, Geopolitical Agency

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa's largest hydroelectric power project,...

Fortune News | Sep 15 , 2025 . By AMANUEL BEKELE