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FED'S COSTLY TURN FROM MONEY PRINTING PILES PRESSURE ON BUDGET

Delayed external financing has forced the Treasury deeper into high-cost domestic borrowing,

Finance Minister Ahmed Shide addressed Parliament on Monday, May 4, 2026, delivering a nine-month report on a 1.93 trillion Br federal budget—the session, held without the private media present, detailed a fiscal environment under pressure. The Minister’s use of the word “stretching” to describe financing assumptions uncovered the fragile nature of external aid projections that have failed to materialise on schedule. A sense of apprehension was noted as the Minister reported borrowing from the domestic market at a faster rate than initially planned to compensate for delayed foreign inflows.



Editorial

Every Encounter with the State Should Not Become an Invoice

The Ethiopian state appears to have discovered a fiscal instrument that is politically convenient and administratively tempting yet economically burdensome for its citizens. It has gotten itself into an addiction where mandatory contributions behave...

Editorials

National Dialogue Has Everything But the Trust It Needs

May 2 , 2026

By the time Ethiopia's National Dialogue Commission (ENDC) reached the end of its first three-year mandate, the country had gathered everything a dialogue needs, except for the one thing it c...

Fortune News

Fortune News

A Fuel Corruption Case Opens with Officials, Businesspeople in the Dock

May 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE

Featured

Featured

EASTER BAZAARS Feel the Squeeze as Rents Rise, Shoppers Fade

Apr 10 , 2026 . By DAGIM SEIFE

Ye'absira Ayele, a businessman from Merkato, sat behind a rack of women's clothes last week, waiting...


Sunday with Eden

The Silence That Leadership Can't Keep

May 9 , 2026 . By Eden Sahle

A few days ago, I attended a virtual conference in Canada that stayed with me, not because of the agenda alone, but because of how...

A Wild Ride with Patience, Perseverance

Jul 13 , 2024 . By Eden Sahle

I gained over 40Kg during my pregnancy. A couple of months po...

Hidden Hypocrisy: Who We Are in Private Speaks Volumes

Jul 7 , 2024 . By Eden Sahle

A few weeks ago, I reconnected with a lawyer who is a strong...

Finding Peace in a Chaotic Reality

May 25 , 2024 . By Eden Sahle

Mending Broken Hearts with an Apology

Jan 19 , 2024 . By Eden Sahle

Women Thrive Against All Odds

Mar 11 , 2023 . By Eden Sahle

Stereotyping: The Antithesis of Individuality

Dec 4 , 2022 . By Eden Sahle

Changing Exam Venue Scratches the Surface

Oct 15 , 2022 . By Eden Sahle

This week's print version

Viewpoints

African Development Finance Blind Spots

May 10 , 2026 . By Gomez Agou

Africa's development-finance gap is the continent's biggest challenge, and at its core, it is a design problem. In the absence of the instruments and regulatory pathways needed to channel domestic savings toward producti...

Debtor Countries Finally Have a Group of Their Own

May 9 , 2026 . By Ahmed Kouchouk

A group of developing countries launched the Borrowers' Platform...

Media Must Not Be Allowed to Sell Public Trust to the Highest Bidder

May 2 , 2026 . By Daniel Fikadu

The Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench's ruling...

Civil Society Should Break Addiction to Foreign Aid

Apr 25 , 2026 . By Belete A. Yemata

Hormuz Uncovers Policy Space Shrinks When Flexibility Needed Most

Apr 18 , 2026 . By Mohammad N. Khalifa

African Clean-Energy Sovereignty Can't Wait

Apr 10 , 2026 . By Fadhel Kaboub

Africa Forges Its Own Green Future

Mar 28 , 2026 . By Elias Kagumya

Africa Isn't the World's "Climate Solution"

Mar 21 , 2026 . By Martha Getachew

In-Picture

IRON JUNGLE

May 10 , 2026

LIVING GROUND

May 3 , 2026

WHEELS & DEALS

May 3 , 2026

STREET SPARKS

May 10 , 2026

SMILE CRAFT

May 10 , 2026


Editors' Pick

Rising Costs, Inflation Threaten Insurance Industry

Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to accidents. For two years, his insurance company had reliably covered his claims, but a recent visit to the insurer left him disillusioned. After damage to his rear...

Editors Picks

State Enterprises from Oracles to Apprentices

Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW

Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitive powerhouses, the sovereign wealth manager, Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), is at a defining moment. At the helm is Brook Taye (PhD), its third CEO since its founding in 2020, whose vision departs fr...


Agenda


Period Poverty Crisis Forces Women to Pay For Dignity

As imports collapse and local producers struggle, women and girls are left to bear the price of a broken hygiene market



Luladay Abraham treats the arrival of her menstrual cycle less as a private inconvenience than as a monthly test of endurance. The 32-year-old accountant, who works for a construction firm on Gabon Street and lives in CMC, has hypermenorrhea, an unus...

Agenda

The Building Boom That Rans Out of Fuel

Two unfinished buildings owned by Roman Tahir on Omedla Street near a roundabout in the Ferensay Legasion in the Gurara neighbourhood have become a quiet measure of stress in Addis Abeba's construction market. They were meant to move steadily toward complet...

Commentaries

The Geopolitical Battle Over Monetary Infrastructure

May 9 , 2026 . By Camila V. Duran

The development of payment infrastructure in emerging-market economies (EMEs), from instant payment systems in retail markets to wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for cross-border inte...

Making Roads Pathways of Progress, Not Corridors of Grief

May 9 , 2026 . By Mesay S. Nasir

For decades, Ethiopia's roads have been described through the language of fate. The dominant word ha...

The Hidden Chokepoints Threatening the Global Economy

May 2 , 2026 . By Diane Coyle

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is only the latest in a series of major supply shocks the global...

Africa Needs to Turn Climate Targets into Green Strategies

Apr 25 , 2026 . By Sunru Yong and Saliem Fakir

Africa's immense renewable-energy potential and fast-growing...

My Opinion

The AI Risk to Focus On

May 9 , 2026 . By Lenny Mendonca and Martin Neil Baily

While many would point to the financial system in response to the question of the biggest risk posed by AI, our attention would be better directed more toward labour markets. Financial concerns are...

Regional Powers, Global Interests Sudan's Revolutionary Quagmire

Jul 20 , 2024 . By Hintsa Andebrhan

Since June 2019, Sudan has been caught in a whirlwind of revolution, descending into a profound econ...

A Tale of Two East African Leaders

Jul 13 , 2024 . By Hintsa Andebrhan

Leadership, whether innate or cultivated, is a subject of perennial debate. For Kenya's President William Ruto (PhD), hi...

Fortune video

Films Review

Nope

Sep 17 , 2022 . By Christian Tesfaye

RRR: PEAK OF BOLLYWOOD, FOR BETTER OR WORSE

Sep 10 , 2022 . By Christian Tesfaye

THE BATMAN: GRITTY GOOD

Apr 30 , 2022 . By Christian Tesfaye

THE KING'S MAN: BETTER THAN THEY SAY

Jan 7 , 2022 . By Christian Tesfaye

Radar

ECX, Nigerian Counterpart Seal Deal on Commodity Market Development

May 10 , 2026

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) and Nigeria's Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL...

Federal Prosecutors Accuse Public Officials, Contractors of Corruption, Alleged Illicit Fund Transfers

May 9 , 2026

EIH Transitions to New Headquarters as It Oversees Major State-Owned Enterprises

May 9 , 2026

Import Substitution Push Lifts Domestic Manufacturing, Industrial Recovery

May 9 , 2026

Federal Housing Corporation, Central Equatoria State Sign Housing Coorporation Deal

May 9 , 2026


Exclusive Interviews


Britain Wants Ethiopia to Stop Being an Aid Case and Become a Climate Power

Fortune: Given the United Kingdom's long history with Ethiopia, is there a change of view about its role in East Africa's economic and climate future? McLoughlin: We are recalibrating our approach in recognition of Ethiopia's increased importance, particularly on climate and economic transformati...



Fortune: Given the United Kingdom's long history with Ethiopia, is there a change of view about its role in East Africa's economic and climate future? McLoughlin: We are recalibrating our approach in recognition of Ethiopia's increased importance, particularly on climate and economic transformati...

Exclusive interview

EZEMA'S New Leader on Elections, Youth Apathy and the Constitution

Apr 10 , 2026

Fortune: Have you voted before? Eyob Mesafint: Yes. I have voted since I was 18. Q: How does the current electoral climate compared with the past? Under the EPRDF, except in 2005, elections were largely nominal and predictable. Opposition leaders expe...

The fineline

Leaders of the National . . .

Oct 3 , 2020

Leaders of the National Election Board are in a charm offensive mood, of a sort. Last week, they organised a rare tour for members of the media, showcasing what polling stations will look like during...


When the country’s most. . .

Sep 19 , 2020

When the country's most senior diplomats and envoys return back to their posts after two-week debriefings, they leave behind a point or two by way of emphasis,...

Old habits die hard, so they say. The TPLF's leadership community...

Old habits die hard, so they say. The TPLF`s leadership community - the existing alike the former - is back to its old se...

Yinager Dessie (PhD), governor of the central bank...

In the absence of a hegemonic political force...

May 2 , 2020

For countries like Ethiopia where scarcity of resources...

Apr 25 , 2020

Ethiopia is bracing for a potential constitutional crisis...

Apr 4 , 2020

News Analysis



View from arada

The Wedding Before the Wedding Erodes "Shimgilina" Tradition

At a close friend's "Shimgilina", a traditional betrothal intercession, I saw how the old rules remain visibly present. They had merely moved into a modern setting, softe...

Pollution Amidst Greening Moves

My brother and I visited the Bole Arabsa neighborhood after a funeral, where my brother noted the significantly better air quality compared to downtown Addis. He described the fresh air as "food for the lungs." I didn't notice the difference even though I live nearby in...

Delicate number

18,610,000

The number of girls under 17 in Ethiopia without access to proper menstrual health and sanitation materials, a silent burden that shapes their school attendance, dignity, and long-term opportunities...

Life matters

Motivation Drops as the Day Begins in Sleepwear

May 9 , 2026 . By Kidist Yidnekachew

We have all seen the aesthetic. The “work from home” dream usually comes packaged with a plush sofa, a laptop balanced on a pillow, a neatly arranged coffee cup, and someone in an expensive-looking silk pyjama set pretending life has finally been...

Lessons in Bureaucracy

Navigating bureaucracy often feels like moving through a labyrinth, where logic falters and clarity dissolves. The rules change with baffling frequency, and what once mad...

The Nuances of Baby Carrying

Jul 5 , 2025 . By Kidist Yidnekachew

Each morning, just beyond the compound gates, a familiar image greets the day: a mother walking briskly with her baby snug in a front carrier. The child's legs, splayed o...

Verbatim

Gallery

Parliament Approves New Cabinet Members

Oct 6 , 2021

Parliament Approves New Cabinet, Incorporates Opposition Leaders Lawmakers have approved today the nominations of 22 ministers, including three opposition leaders. Two MPs have voted against, while 12 abstained...

2020 in Posterity

Jan 5 , 2021

TIGRAY VOTES DESPITE "NULL & VOID" THREAT

Sep 9 , 2020

IN-PICTURE: LAUREATE'S RECEPTION  

Dec 14 , 2019

PM Abiy Ahmed (PhD) at a Gala Dinner Called for the Awarding of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

May 6 , 2019

Faces, Voices of Addis Abeba

Apr 26 , 2019