News analysis

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News analysis

Jan 5 , 2020

DEVALUATION OF BIRR: THE BITTER PILL THAT NEVER WORKED (LESSON VII)

The Birr was devalued against a basket of major currencies twice over the last almost three decades. The first one was in 1992, when a new government under the late Meles Zenawi devalued the Birr from...

Jan 5 , 2020

MANUFACTURING SECTOR: RIDDLE WRAPPED IN AN ENIGMA (LESSON VI)

It should have been easy. The manufacturing sector's contribution to GDP is insignificant, although it is a high productivity area that can boost Ethiopia's foreign currency earnings. But the sector w...

Jan 5 , 2020

MEGA PROJECTS: IT’S ALL ABOUT FOLLOW THROUGH (LESSON V)

Successive editions of plans for growth, dubbed Growth & Transformation Plans (GTPs), were launched 10 years ago, putting an emphasis on public infrastructure financing both to stimulate the econo...

Jan 5 , 2020

SOCIAL MEDIA: NOT SO FREE OF CHARGE (LESSON IV)

In the 2010s, Ethiopia, along with the rest of the world, learned the hard way that the astounding technological improvement in the exchange of information exacts a terrible cost. Facebook, YouTube an...

Jan 5 , 2020

POLITICAL REFORMS: FREE SPACE DOESN’T NECESSARILY ENTAIL A FAIR ONE (LESSON III)

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's (PhD) administration took an action rarely undertaken by any other regime in the country's history. It suddenly removed the restraints - some legal and others only implied...

Jan 5 , 2020

UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC GROWTH: ALSO BROUGHT ALONG INCOME INEQUALITY (LESSON II)

Before all foreign news stories about Ethiopia started with the sentence, “The reformist Prime Minister of Ethiopia who came from humble backgrounds . . .,” they started with, “One of the fastes...

Jan 5 , 2020

POLITICAL TRANSITION: NO WALK IN THE PARK (LESSON I)

After 27 years of domination of the political space, the EPRDF unraveled from the inside enduring three years of anti-government protests. It gave way to the meteoric rise of Abiy Ahmed (PhD) both on...

Jun 29 , 2019

Assassinations Cast Shadow on New Era

The unforgettable memory of Etsegenet Berhe, one of the prominent local business people, dates back to the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium 11 years ago. He was in Qobo town, northern Ethiopia...

Jun 1 , 2019

What Went Wrong with Ethiopia’s Policy Bank?

A Turkish businessperson, Mehmet Yesildag, came to Ethiopia five years ago with anticipatory energy and big hopes. He planned to establish a large leather factory with a production capacity of manufac...

Mar 16 , 2019

MOURNFUL NATION, GRIEVING WORLD

Family members of the passengers and crew who perished aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 gathered to mourn their loved ones at the crash site in Tulu Fara Wereda, some 40Km south of the capital. Th...

Mar 16 , 2019

Mourning Nation, Grieving World

Last Sunday, March 10, 2019, began as an ordinary day for Yammani Geleta, a 57-year-old farmer and father of six living in Tulu Fara wereda, a border village between Amhara and Oromia regional states...

Columns

Commentaries | Aug 22,2026

Exports Record Worth Having. They Worth More as a Beginning

A record is a strange thing to worry about. Federal trade officials have booked the best e...

Editorial | Aug 22 , 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 City Wants to Widen Its Tax Net. Shops Feel It Tighten

The tax bill that reached Ferdos Debebe this year left little room in the tight finances o...

Agenda | Aug 22 , 2026 . By ABDUREUF JUHAR and FITSUM TADESSE

Central Bank Writes Rulebooks for Billion-Birr Market Already Exists

The forthcoming strategy for interest-free finance will place Sharia-compliant financing o...

Fortune News | Aug 22 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER