Governor of Central Bank to Chart Course in BRICS Negotiations

Jan 9 , 2024


As Ethiopia officially joins the BRICS team, Mamo Mihretu, governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), has been appointed as Sherpa, and Mesganu Arega, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, as Sous Sherpa. They are expected to represent Ethiopia and engage in high-level discussions and negotiations within the BRICS framework, promoting national interests and contributing to the partnerships. The invitation to join BRICS came during the BRICS Summit in August 2023. A national ministerial and a senior official coordination committee is established to lay the groundwork to ensure Ethiopia's active participation in BRICS. Ethiopia's commitment to South-South cooperation was accentuated in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


Radar

Electricity Bills Get the VAT Jolt

The new Value Added Tax (VAT) has begun implementation on electricity consumption and various service fees affecting customers who use more than 200 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Based on a directive from the Ministry of Finance, the tax will be applied to the excess amount of electricity consumption above 200 kilowatt hours. The Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) began implementing the VAT on bills starting from November though both prepaid and postpaid customers will have to pay VAT a...


Radar

World Bank Greases Financial Overhaul

The World Bank approved 700 million dollars in credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to scale up support for the financial sector. The funds are targeted at modernizing the regulatory and supervisory framework of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), supporting governance reforms, balance sheet restructuring, and recapitalization of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), and transforming the Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) into a sustainable development finance institutio...


Radar

Gadaa Bank Expands Reach, Faces Lending Constraints

Gadaa Bank closed its first full fiscal year of operations with a net profit of 90.2 million Br. The 18-month-old Bank held its annual general assembly at Millenium Hall on Africa Avenue last week where the board announced that during the year, the Bank opened 15 branches and now has 85 operational branches. “Due to recently enacted policy measures on credit by NBE and unmet resource mobilization during the fiscal year, the Bank was unable to make loan disbursements,” stated Wolde Bulto,...