Top Stories of the Week
Ethiopia to Mandate Installation of Emission Control Devices in Fuel-Powered Vehicles
Planes, Chickens & Empty Wallets: How Virtual Gambles Are Draining Ethiopia's Youth
Amhara Bank Posts Significant Profit, Revenue Growth
Owners of Sports Betting Companies, Partners Arrested Over Alleged 100 Billion Birr Concealment
Ethiopia Secures $500M from China Bank for $12.5B Bishoftu Mega-Airport
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Ethiopia to Mandate Installation of Emission Control Devices in Fuel-Powered Vehicles
The Ministry of Transport and Logistics announced plans to require the installation of emission control devices in all fuel-powered vehicles to regulate the level of polluting gases they release.
The announcement was made by Minister of Transport and Logistics Alemu Sime (Phd) last week. Alemu stated that a new national standard has been developed in conjunction with the Ethiopian Standards Institution (ESI) to strictly define the permissible limit for vehicle exhaust emissions. Read more.
Djibouti Ports Authority Bars Newly Licensed Ethiopian Multimodal Operators from Using Key Corridor
The Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) has reaffirmed a strict policy stance that bars newly licensed Ethiopian Multimodal Transport Operators (MTOs) from operating at its ports, leaving the Ethiopian government's push to liberalize the logistics sector in limbo. Read more.
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ጉደኛው ማሽን ህይወት እንደጉድ እያቀለለ ነው! ውድ ደንበኛችን እነሆ ገንዘብ ገቢ፣ወጪ እንዲሁም ማስተላለፍ ሁሉንም በአንድ የሚያከናውኑበትን የሪሳይክለር ማሽን ይዘን መጥተናል። ይህን አገልግሎትም በካርድዎ፣ ያለ ካርድ በስልክዎ በሚደርስዎ አጭር ቁጥር አሊያም በሞባይል ባንክ መተግበሪያ ኪው.አር ኮድን በመጠቀም ማግኘት ይችላሉ።
Planes, Chickens & Empty Wallets: How Virtual Gambles Are Draining Ethiopia's Youth
Ethiopia’s rapid shift from physical betting shops to digital platforms is reshaping the gambling landscape, driven by smartphone penetration, instant mobile payments, and a proliferation of immersive games like Aviator and Keno.
While these platforms generate significant revenue for operators and regulators, they are also creating serious social and economic risks. Young workers are losing wages, borrowing to fund bets, and falling into behavioral addiction. Read more.
Arifpay Launches MFI Switch and Wallet as Sector Pushes Toward Digital Services
Arifpay has introduced two new products, the MFI Switch and Digital Wallet, designed to help microfinance institutions move away from cash handling and adopt real-time digital services. Read more.
Amhara Bank Posts Significant Profit, Revenue Growth
Amhara Bank has exited its loss position, posting a profit before tax of 655 million Birr, an increase of 85 pc, or 301 million Birr, compared with the previous fiscal year.
The result was announced at the bank’s general assembly last week at Millennium Hall. Board Chairperson Gashaw Debebe noted that the bank’s paid-up capital has reached 7.4 billion Br. Read more.
Ethiopian Developer Builds AI-powered App to Guide Learners Through Online “Tutorial Hell”
Skilltrip, an AI-powered learning platform, is designed to address a persistent issue among self-taught learners: unstructured online content. Developed by a 25-year-old self-taught programmer, the platform curates publicly available materials and organizes them into step-by-step learning paths. Read more.
Owners of Sports Betting Companies, Partners Arrested Over Alleged 100 Billion Birr Concealment
The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) announced the arrest of sports betting company owners and their alleged accomplices, suspected of concealing over 100 billion Birr in revenue owed to the government.
The Service said it had been conducting surveillance and studies on sports betting operators and their payment system providers. NISS alleges that sports betting companies failed to pay taxes corresponding to the amounts they collected, and as a result of the investigation, 24 suspects were taken into custody. Read more.
AI is all the rage, but are you using it to your advantage?
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What’s on Our Mind
In a reality where online and offline life are inseparable, women move between both spaces while seeing themselves under constant scrutiny, and the line dividing the two becomes unclear.
Perhaps what we experience is a simulation, or something close to one, that pulls our lives into technological architectures we did not design, a system in which users have little control over their identity, privacy, data, or agency.
For women this reality is especially stark. As offline spaces become more hostile, abuse moves online, and digital violence becomes an extension of gender-based violence in the physical world. It has not merely persisted, it has mutated, seeping into the very corridors of our digital lives.
Globally, technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) such as doxxing, deepfakes, non-consensual image sharing, hacking, impersonation, GPS tracking, and cyber-harassment is increasingly being documented.
In Ethiopia, a similar trend is also emerging. Last week, an exhibition by SheEsecures, a digital-safety initiative held during the 16 Days of Activism last week, exposed the brutality of this online environment: misogynistic comments, coordinated harassment, and even rape and death threats circulating on TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms targeting women and gender-equality advocates. The exhibition made clear how technology extends offline violence and creates new risks. The fear produced by such attacks and constant exposure to them threatens to undermine the very empowerment technology is supposed to offer women.
And this is not an anomaly. Time and again, people become complicit not out of intentional cruelty but because our digital culture has been trained to devour scandal rather than interrogate the systems that produce it.
Sure, social media, particularly TikTok has become both a megaphone and a minefield. Its virality can elevate gender-advocacy content, yet that same virality supercharges misogynistic backlash at scale.
And unless the architecture of platforms and the laws governing them are redesigned with user agency, privacy, consent, and gendered harm at the center, we are engineering a future where violence is WiFi-enabled.
The problem requires concrete action in Ethiopia. TFGBV must be explicitly recognized as gender-based violence in law and policy, with clear mandates for investigation and prosecution. Cybercrime and data-protection frameworks need urgent updates, including dedicated units equipped to respond to online abuse and protect women and marginalized groups. And technology platforms operating in the country, from social media to messaging apps must be pushed to enforce anti-harassment policies and ensure local users have accessible, meaningful reporting mechanisms.
Scaling a Health Startup in Ethiopia: The Story of Medanit
Ethiopian Health-Tech startup Medanit details its rapid growth, announcing partnerships with over 60 hospitals and reaching 38,000 patients within two years by streamlining telemedicine, appointments, and medicine delivery across its platform. Read more.
Ethiopia Secures $500M from China Bank for $12.5B Bishoftu Mega-Airport
Ethiopia has secured a $500 million financial commitment from a China-based institution, marking a major step forward for the development of the $12.5 billion Bishoftu International Airport. This colossal project, spearheaded by Ethiopian Airlines Group, aims to create Africa's largest aviation hub, designed to handle up to 110 million passengers annually.
The funding, announced at the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco, signals a significant increase in international confidence in the project's strategic and economic potential, positioning Ethiopia as a continental transport and logistics gateway. Read more.
Beyond Charging Stations: Ethiopia’s EV Boom Holds the Seeds of a New Credit Economy: Guest Contribution
In his commentary, Yonas Ayele points out how Ethiopia’s electric-mobility surge could be more than a green transport story and become a tool for financial inclusion. Read more.
Heads Up: What’s Coming & What to Catch
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