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MIXED SIGNALS

Jan 17 , 2026.

Signs at the Agona bus stop overlap on a single post, sending mixed signals to commuters. One restricts parking exclusively to minibus taxis, while another indicates the routes they serve.

The large painted “X” dominates the view, catching the attention of passersby, as smaller, fading signs cling to the pole, half-hidden and easy to miss, an everyday snapshot of Addis Abeba’s crowded streetscape and layered regulation.


PUBLISHED ON Jan 17,2026 [ VOL 26 , NO 1342]

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Editor's pick

Commentaries

The Political Class Bet on Mega-projects, Pushed State Banks to the Brink

Ethiopia's developmental state experiment was less a model of economic discipline tha...

Taking Women Farmers Seriously

As the war in Iran disrupts fertiliser supplies and undermines food security around the world, the need t...

Fineline

Leaders of the National . . .

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 me...

When the country’s most. . .

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...

Editorial

Mistaking Development Theatre for Public Trust Has a Cost

May 30 , 2026

Tomorrow, millions of Ethiopians are expected to vote in the seventh national electio...

Tax Push Tests How Much Pain Taxpayers Can Bear

May 23 , 2026

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has spent weeks in Addis Abeba conducting t...

T-Bills Trap Begins in the Federal Government's Own Budget

May 16 , 2026

The federal budget tells a troubling story about inflation, debt and reform. The prob...

Every Encounter with the State Should Not Become an Invoice

May 9 , 2026

The Ethiopian state appears to have discovered a fiscal instrument that is politicall...

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

Sunday With Eden

When Ordinary Lives Rewrite Poverty

There are moments in life that leave people changed forever. A few days ago, I attended a conference at a religious inst...

A Ball, A Father, A Life-time of Memory

Football was never merely a game in our household. It was ritual, language and affect...

Life Matters

Beyond the Scoreline, How Foreign Football Becomes Local Identity

The recent celebrations in Addis Abeba following Arsenal's success were, to put it bl...

When Problem-Solving Fails Because the Shape Looks Different

We like to think of ourselves as pattern-recognition machines. From the moment the da...