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99,100,000,000

Jul 11 , 2026.

The equity, in Birr, of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation (ESC) in 2023, the last year for which its books were externally audited. The Corporation posted losses every year from 2018 through 2023, with equity deteriorating to negative 45.4 billion Br by 2021, then abruptly flipping to 41.9 billion Br in 2022 and 99.1 billion Br in 2023, as liabilities collapsed from 242.9 billion Br to 79.1 billion Br. A 144 billion Br equity improvement with zero profits is almost impossible through operations. This is the fingerprint of the state's balance-sheet surgery, consistent with the Liability & Asset Management Corporation's (LAMC) absorption of legacy SOE debt and recapitalisation ahead of the long-stalled sugar privatisation drive.


PUBLISHED ON Jul 11,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1367]

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