Top Stories of the Week
Ethiopian Lottery Service Revokes 22 Betting Licenses
M-PESA Ethiopia Says Its New App Was Blocked on Ethio Telecom Mobile Data Days After Launch
Hybrid Banks call on NBE to revise NPL limits
Ethiopia's Sovereign Wealth Fund Prepares to Launch Startup Incubation Program Within SOEs
Majority of FDI Projects Go Unrealized, Investment Commission Asleep at Wheel: Report
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Ethiopian Lottery Service Revokes 22 Betting Licenses
Ethiopian Lottery Service has revoked the licenses of 22 sports-betting firms after a major investigation alleged that over 100 billion Birr in revenues had been concealed by the companies that should have gone to the government.
The crackdown, involving multiple agencies, marks a sweeping effort to clean up illicit financial flows in the betting industry and restore regulatory oversight. Read more.
"We Have to Dispel the Notion That Capital Markets Are Only for the Wealthy": FAB CEO on Ethiopia’s Budding Market: Interview
First Addis Investment Bank (FAB), the first investment bank formed outside the orbit of commercial banks, is entering Ethiopia’s capital market with independence and an advisory DNA. CEO Michael Addisu highlights that raising capital isn’t about affiliation but strategy, trust, and the potential to deploy resources effectively. 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።
M-PESA Ethiopia Says Its New App Was Blocked on Ethio Telecom Mobile Data Days After Launch
M-PESA Ethiopia says access to its newly launched telco-agnostic application, M-PESA Lehulum (M-PESA for everyone), has been blocked by Ethio telecom.
The development comes days after M-PESA Ethiopia announced the launch of M-PESA Lehulum on December 1, 2025, which was a major step towards removing traditional network barriers. Read more.
Mayor's Office Launches New Tax Complaint System
The Mayor’s Office has introduced a new procedure to address complaints related to tax collection and revenue services in Addis Abeba. The mechanism complements the existing system at the City Administration Revenue Bureau. Read more.
Hybrid Banks call on NBE to revise NPL limits
Hybrid banks, institutions transitioning from microfinance providers to commercial banks, are urging the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) to develop differentiated non-performing loan (NPL) regulations.
They argue that the current uniform 5% NPL cap for all commercial banks stifles lending to the agricultural sector, compromising efforts to expand financial access where it is most needed. The NBE’s 5% NPL limit, designed to protect the financial system and depositors, has become a significant barrier for hybrid banks serving high-risk yet vital agrarian markets. Read more.
New Free Directory App Helps Ethiopians Find Essential Contacts Fast, Even Without Data
Meleket Technology has launched a digital Yellow Pages platform to help Ethiopians quickly access essential and emergency contacts, including in areas with low or no data connectivity. Read more.
Ethiopia's Sovereign Wealth Fund Prepares to Launch Startup Incubation Program Within SOEs
Ethiopia’s sovereign wealth fund is preparing to launch an incubation program for startups across the 41 state-owned enterprises in its portfolio, according to Brook Taye (PhD), CEO of Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH).
Brook announced the upcoming initiative, dubbed “Jump Start-Up,” during a fireside chat on the opening day of the three-day Capital Market Summit at the Addis Ababa International Convention Center. He said each SOE will be able to select startups that align with its market needs and operational priorities. Read more.
What’s on Our Mind
Electric Cars Won’t Save a Country Still Cooking With Firewood
Ethiopia will host the COP32 climate summit in 2027, a remarkable milestone for a country that only recently embarked on an ambitious green transition. It began with a bold ban on imports of internal-combustion-engine vehicles, coupled with generous duty-free incentives for electric ones. Taxes on petrol-powered cars have climbed steadily. And in Addis Ababa, at least, the experiment seems to be paying off: electric vehicles now weave through the streets with growing frequency, even if public charging infrastructure has lagged behind.
But a quick drive outside the capital tells a different story, one where EVs, and electricity itself, are still luxuries.
Hydropower accounts for roughly 91 percent of Ethiopia’s electricity generation. Yet over 90 percent of rural households still rely on biomass to cook and heat their homes. The result: thousands of preventable deaths from indoor air pollution each year. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has added an impressive 5,150 megawatts to national capacity, but nearly half the country still doesn’t have access to the grid. Ethiopia’s clean-energy promise remains hamstrung by a familiar affliction, power that can be generated but not delivered.
This is where the narrative of green progress rubs up against lived reality. Global climate goals and carbon market schemes may thrill donors and policymakers, but divorced from the daily struggles of the poor, they risk breeding resentment rather than resilience. A proposed 30 percent combined excise and VAT on fuel this year would only intensify nationwide inflation. Diesel still powers most telecom towers in remote regions, raising the cost of connectivity, and opportunity. Hydropower may one day allow Ethiopia to leapfrog a fossil-fuel phase altogether, but the country cannot abandon petroleum before offering viable alternatives.
Pragmatism, not purity, must guide climate ambition. That means real investment in solar access, rural mini-grids and fair rules to attract independent power producers through long-term purchase agreements. It also means acknowledging that Ethiopia now enforces stricter limits on gasoline cars than the richest European nations, places where universal access to stable electricity is taken for granted and transition plans are measured in decades, not mandates.
If the green revolution is to become more than a slogan, if it is to curb poverty and deliver true energy security, it must be rooted in the needs of the 80 million Ethiopians who are still multidimensionally poor. A transition that works only for the capital is not a transition, it’s a widening divide.
For Ethiopia, that means prioritizing clean cooking over electric sedans, mini-grids over motor-vehicle bans. Electrifying wealthier neighborhoods while the poor choke on smoke is not climate justice; it is climate blindness. A green future worthy of celebration is one that brings power, dignity, and opportunity to everyone.
Djibouti Clarifies Port Fee Structure After Criticism
Djibouti has clarified how it calculates port charges, pushing back against recent claims that conflated its port fees with separate logistics and inland-transport costs borne by Ethiopian firms. Read more.
Majority of FDI Projects Go Unrealized, Investment Commission Asleep at Wheel: Report
A new report from the Anti-Corruption Commission paints a stark picture of stalled factories, half-born ventures, and investors stranded by weak institutional support.
The study, titled FDI Licensing and Post-investment Implementation Systems, spans the six years leading up to 2025 and surfaced only this month, shows the Ethiopian Investment Commission granted 1,509 permits to foreign investors during that period, yet barely 586 just 39 percent managed to launch operations. Read more.
Premier Switch Solutions Posts Modest 4% Net Profit Growth Amid Birr Depreciation, Inflation Pressures
Premier Switch Solutions posted a 4 percent profit increase to 88.8 million Birr despite rising inflation and a 170 percent depreciation of the Birr. Interoperable ATM and POS transactions expanded significantly, and card issuance reached over 1.2 million in the year. Read more.
Heads Up: What’s Coming & What to Catch
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