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- Issue 189: Gates of Honor
Issue 189: Gates of Honor
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Top Stories of the Week
Abiy Ahmed Awards Bill Gates Ethiopia’s Highest Honor
IMF, Ethiopia Reach Staff Level Agreement on $260M Disbursement
AddisPay Goes Live with Payment Gateway, Consumer, Merchant Apps
Horticulture Association Unveils Digital Training Platform in Bid to Boost Productivity
Ethiopian Startup Launches Power Bank Rental Service
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Abiy Ahmed Awards Bill Gates Ethiopia’s Highest Honor
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has awarded the Ethiopia Special Order, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, in recognition of the Gates Foundation’s 25-year impact across health, agriculture, technology, and development in Ethiopia.
The award was presented at a ceremony held Sunday evening at the National Palace in Addis Ababa, where the prime minister praised Gates for his long-standing commitment to Ethiopia’s progress and for championing a model of philanthropy grounded in humility, partnership, and respect for local leadership.
“Tonight, we honor a man driven by brilliance and purpose, a man whose curiosity has taken him across the worlds of science, health, and humanity,” said Abiy. Read more.
How Enqoy is Chipping Away at Urban Loneliness in Addis, One Meal at a Time
In Addis Ababa, a new platform is experimenting with a low-tech solution to urban isolation: shared meals.
Enqoy, a social dining initiative launched just 3 months ago, has hosted over 40 small-group dining events designed to connect strangers in real life. Participants sign up, take a short personality quiz, and join curated dinners across local restaurants.
The startup says it’s responding to a growing demand for intentional social spaces in a city where many find social circles static and online connections unfulfilling.
Read more.
IMF, Ethiopia Reach Staff Level Agreement on $260M Disbursement
The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with Ethiopian authorities on the third review of the country’s $3.4 billion Extended Credit Facility.
Subject to Executive Board approval, the agreement will unlock around $260 million in financing, following stronger-than-expected performance on key macroeconomic indicators, including inflation, exports, and reserves. The Fund emphasized the need to sustain reform momentum to consolidate gains and support long-term economic stability. Read more.
What’s on Our Mind
As Ethiopia’s health sector was shuddering from a nationwide strike by health professionals calling for livable compensation, an ambitious housing initiative for civil servants was announced. A 120 billion Birr long-term financing arrangement to build 41,000 homes was unveiled by the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and the Addis Ababa City Administration. While the project’s announcement should have prompted sizzling optimism, it has received contempt on social media from urbanites with fresh memories of toiling under similar public housing schemes.
Two decades ago, nearly 300,000 Ethiopians rushed to register for the Integrated Housing Development Project, more commonly referred to as the condominium project. Another 700,000 people would register a few years later, hoping to acquire the subsidized homes that were to be paid off in 20 years. Decades later, the project barely delivered on half of its lofty initial objectives. CBE, which was financing the project, struggled to collect back loans from the initial disbursements, while a raffle to distribute finished homes led to the incarceration of officials in charge for interfering with the digital lottery system.
One of the central roadblocks for affordable housing in Ethiopia has been the absence of a mortgage banking law and robust real estate legislation. The liminal legal landscape has allowed several ‘real estate developers’ to effectively steal from thousands with impunity. Residents desperate for a place they could call their own are often left to the mercy of white-collar predators hunting through fine prints. Addis Ababa needs more homes, but no single project can become a panacea. It might prove wiser in the long run to lay legal foundations in property rights, banking, and construction to address the housing crisis.
Ethiopia’s central bank amended the rules for payment instrument issuers’(PII) licensing and authorization two weeks ago. The amendment signals Ethiopia’s push for a secure, interoperable, and consolidated digital payments ecosystem.
There are four licensed PII with a commercial status currently operating according to the National Bank of Ethiopia: Ethio Telecom Telebirr, Safaricom Ethiopia M-Pesa, Kacha Digital Financial Services, and Yaya Payment Instrument Issuer.
Biannual security audits will raise compliance costs, while higher transaction limits (daily caps up to 300,000 Birr) aim to spur adoption. Stakeholders might need to prioritize capital planning, system upgrades, and governance restructuring to comply with 2025–2027 deadlines.
For more visuals on Ethiopia's digital financial landscape, visit Visit DFS Ethiopia Hub.
Tech Solutions for Ethiopian Farmers Must Be Practical, Experts Call out Agri-Tech Paradox
Despite agriculture making up 35% of Ethiopia’s GDP and over 75% of jobs, the sector remains largely untouched by practical digital transformation. Experts say tech is skipping the farmer in Ethiopia. Read more.
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Safaricom Ethiopia Eyes Break-even by 2026 Despite losses
Despite ongoing losses, Safaricom’s Ethiopian subsidiary expects to break even by 2026/2027. A sharp currency devaluation in July helped lift revenue 7 percent year-on-year.
While active users and MPESA clients more than doubled, average revenue per user and mobile money transactions dropped by about 15 percent. Watch Video.
Horticulture Association Unveils Digital Training Platform in Bid to Boost Productivity
The Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association (EHPEA) has launched a digital learning platform for its members to help bridge knowledge gaps, increase productivity, and ensure compliance with both national and international standards. Read more.
Digital Financial Services (DFS) Awareness in Ethiopia
Digital financial services (DFS) are experiencing growing adoption across Ethiopia; however, awareness and usage levels remain uneven across the various digital channels available.
Explore the detailed visual under AKOFADA (Advancing Knowledge on Financial Accessibility and DFS Adoption), our initiative to support informed decision-making in digital finance.
Visit DFS Ethiopia Hub to download the high-resolution visual.
Sidi Ould Tah Named African Development Bank President
The African Development Bank has chosen the Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah as its president-elect. The election took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at the end of the annual meeting of the continent’s biggest multilateral lender. Read more.
AddisPay Goes Live with Payment Gateway, Consumer and Merchant Apps
AddisPay Financial Technologies has launched its suite of digital financial products, including a Payment Gateway, Consumer App, and Merchant App, marking its entry into Ethiopia’s fintech landscape.
The rollout follows the company’s receipt of a commercial license from the National Bank of Ethiopia in late February, after a three-year preparation process.
Established in February 2022 with a capital of 50 million birr, the Company has a paid-up capital of over 25 million birr. Addispay has already integrated with tele birr, M-Pesa, Awash Birr, and CBE birr alongside international payment systems such as VISA and MasterCard. Read more.
ZTE, Ethio Telecom Deploy Africa’s First All-Optical Government Network
Ethiopia's state-owned operator, Ethio telecom, and ZTE have deployed an FTTR all-optical network for the office building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. Read more.
Ethiopian Startup Launches Power Bank Rental Service
MyCharge, a local tech company just four months old, has launched a unique power bank rental service. Starting with over 60 locations, the company plans to expand to 150 stations by year's end. Read more.
Digital P2P Lending Platform for Ethiopia
What if borrowers and lenders could connect directly through a simple and innovative way? A Digital P2P Lending Platform could be the answer for this.
Shega’s AKOFADA project latest report explores the design and applicability of a safe and seamless platform for connecting borrowers and lenders.
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