Issue 219: Recalibration

Over the past few months, many of you have shared the same frustration. Work that depends on understanding Ethiopia’s markets still starts with hours spent searching across scattered data, reports, and documents, often without a clear or reliable place to begin.

Today, we are introducing Shega Insights https://insights.shega.co/

Shega Insights brings Ethiopia’s market information into one place, including banking and financial sector data, company and investor records, funding and FDI activity, regulations, proclamations, and research. It is built to give people a grounded, decision-relevant view of what is happening in the market, without relying on fragmented sources.

On top of this is Ask Shega, an AI research assistant built into Shega Insights. It helps you understand Ethiopia’s market faster by pulling together what matters across the platform and turning it into clear, usable answers, so you spend less time searching and more time making decisions.

A small group of founding users has been testing an early version, and their feedback is shaping what comes next. We are now gradually opening early access to people with real market questions who want to help guide the next phase.

Federal authorities have moved to partially lift asset freezes imposed during a sweeping crackdown on the fintech sector, signalling a potential recalibration in their approach to the high-stakes investigation that has roiled the burgeoning fintech industry.

The Ministry of Justice issued an order on December 23, 2025, directing banks to unfreeze the accounts of 50 individuals. Also benefiting from the decision are digital payment gateway firms whose accounts had been restricted for nine days.

The companies whose accounts have been unfrozen include ArifPay Financial Technologies, AddisPay Financial Technologies, FenanPay Solutions, LakiPay Financial Technologies, StarPay Financial Services, Yagout Pay, SantimPay Financial Technologies, Kacha Financial Technology, and Sinan Pay Solutions. Read more.

The managers of the Ethiopian Chemical Products Manufacturers Association (ECPMA), which represents basic chemicals, soap and detergent, and paint and adhesive factories, say their pleas for government intervention have gone unanswered for months. Read more.

ዕድል እና አጋጣሚዎች ፈጣን ተጠቃሚን ይመርጣሉ!

እርስዎም ፈጠን ብለው ተሸላሚ እንዲሆኑ፣ አቢሲንያ ባንክ - ከ ኅዳር 22 እስከ ጥር 21 ቀን 2018 ዓ.ም ድረስ “ከአቢሲንያ ባንክ ጋር ይጀምሩ - ያድሱ እና ይደጉ” የተሰኘ የሽልማት መርሀ-ግብር ለደንበኞቹ አዘጋጅቷል!

ከእርስዎ የሚጠበቀው የባንካችን ቤተሰብ በመሆን፣ በቅርንጫፍም ሆነ በዲጂታል አማራጮቻችን አዲስ ሂሳብ መክፈትና ተቀማጭ ማድረግ ፣ ነባር ሂሳብዎ ላይ ተጨማሪ ገቢ ማድረግ ፣ በፊት ገፅታዎ እና በጣት አሻራዎ የደንበኝነት ምዝገባ ማካሄድ፣ በባንካችን የውጭ ምንዛሬ መመንዘር ወይም ገቢ ማድረግ እንዲሁም ከባንካችን ጋር በአጋርነት ከሚሠሩ አገልግሎት ሰጪ ተቋማት በአቢሲንያ ባንክ በኩል ክፍያ መፈጸም ብቻ ነው!

ያን ጊዜ የሚያስሸልሙ ኩፖኖችን ወዲያውኑ ያገኛሉ! እነዚያ ኩፖኖች ደግሞ፦ አዲስ ሀዩንዳይ ኤሰንት መኪና፣ ቲቪና ላፕቶፕ፣ ጨምሮ ሌሎች በየ15 ቀኑ ፍሪጅ፣ የልብስ ማጠቢያ ማሽን እና ሌሎችም አጓጊ ሽልማቶችን አሸናፊ ያደርግዎታል፡፡

ያስታውሱ—የብዙ ኩፖኖች መኖር  የሽልማት ዕድልን ይጨምራል

ይበሉ ከአቢሲንያ ጋር ይጀምሩ – ያድሱ እና ይደጉ!

ለበለጠ መረጃ 8397

ደንብና ሁኔታዎች ተፈጻሚነት ይኖራቸዋል

አቢሲንያ - የሁሉም ምርጫ!

Lithium-ion batteries are central to modern life. But in Ethiopia, and across Africa, their second life is rarely planned for. That is the gap Inter Ethiopia Solutions is trying to close. The startup collects used lithium-ion batteries, tests them cell by cell, grades them, and rebuilds viable ones. Read more.

Some delivery drivers working for beU, one of Ethiopia’s largest food delivery platforms, have gone on strike, protesting low pay, unfair treatment, and recent app changes that they say have sharply reduced their earnings.

While grievances have been building, drivers point to a newly introduced OTP delivery verification system, along with a limit that reduces simultaneous orders from three to two, as the immediate triggers. Read more.

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Subscribe to 1440 today.

The Ethiopia Coffee Trading Center was officially inaugurated on Saturday in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, to leverage Ethiopia's advantages in coffee origin and promote the entry of its premium coffee into the Chinese market. Read more.

Ethiopian Airlines has obtained a 27.8 billion Birr loan from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia to fund the second phase of its employee housing program, covering 5,000 homes.

The initiative, part of a broader plan to house 20,000 staff, follows the first phase, which delivered homes to 1,200 employees. Read more.

VisionFund Microfinance Institution has joined SantimPay’s payment gateway, enabling its 1.9 million account holders to make online payments. Read more.

According to Bloomberg, the birr depreciated by more than 15 percent against the US dollar in 2025, making it one of the world’s worst-performing currencies this year.

Ethiopia’s birr has recorded the third weakest performance among global currencies tracked by Bloomberg, trailing only the Argentine peso and the Turkish lira, highlighting persistent pressure on the exchange rate amid ongoing debt restructuring efforts. Read More.

Ethiopia is beginning to experiment with AI across its state systems. Policymakers see potential gains in service delivery and governance, but the same technologies are already also accelerating threats such as misinformation, deepfakes, and fraud.

Institutional gaps in AI security and risk management at companies such as Ethio telecom, which operates much of the country’s digital backbone, could carry real consequences. Read more.

Ethiopia and the US have signed a $1.6 billion health cooperation framework to support the country’s health care system from 2026 to 2030, according to a Health Ministry statement on Tuesday.

The agreement will continue support for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria programs, as well as maternal and child health services and pandemic preparedness. Read more.

Dashen Bank, Ethiopia’s second-largest private commercial bank, closed the last fiscal year with 31.4 billion Birr revenue, a 34% year-on-year increase. Profitability, however, did not keep pace with revenue growth. Gross profit rose 5.1% to Birr 6.7 billion, up from Birr 6.4 billion a year earlier. Read more.