Issue 239: Information & Capital Flows

A draft Freedom of Information Proclamation was tabled at the Ethiopian parliament last week, proposing to give any person the right to request, access, transmit, and reuse information held by government bodies and qualifying private organizations, and to receive a response within ten working days. The draft replaces the media-and-information provisions in Proclamation 590/2008, standing the new law up as an independent instrument with its own enforcement architecture. At the center of that architecture is a strengthened Ethiopian Institution of the Ombudsman, empowered to audit compliance, investigate complaints, impose administrative sanctions, and, in cases of deliberate obstruction, refer matters for criminal prosecution. The draft further requires government bodies to proactively publish budgets, procurement contracts, audit reports, and project information without waiting to be asked. If it passes in its current form, it will be the most substantive legislative commitment to public information access Ethiopia has made.

The timing is not incidental. Ethiopia is in the middle of one of the most consequential economic reform programs in its modern history, a floating exchange rate, an IMF Extended Credit Facility arrangement, a liberalizing financial sector, and a government that has staked its credibility on demonstrating that macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform can coexist with political continuity. For that program to work, it needs markets, investors, and citizens to form accurate expectations about policy. That, in turn, requires information. The draft proclamation is not merely a governance measure. It is, if properly implemented, a foundational economic infrastructure reform.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote's group of companies has increased planned ​investment in a fertiliser plant ‌in Ethiopia to more than $4 billion from $2.5 billion announced last year. Read more.

Telegram-linked Crypto Wallet has added Amharic language support, a localisation move aimed at Ethiopian users, even as authorities maintain restrictions on cryptocurrency trading and birr-linked peer-to-peer transactions. Read more.

Ethiopia and France have finalized a 54.6 million euro loan agreement to advance digital public services and geothermal energy development.

The deal, sealed during bilateral talks on cooperation frameworks and development roadmaps, allocates a substantial portion of the funds to an integrated renewable energy project featuring a 150-megawatt geothermal plant, officials said. Read more.

Addis Ababa City Administration has launched a 1.4 billion Birr project to convert 1,200 public buses to gas-powered engines as authorities push to reduce reliance on imported fuel and expand the use of alternative energy in the capital. Read more.

Health institutions across Ethiopia will no longer be allowed to use patient treatment testimonials in advertisements under a new federal directive that also places legal responsibility on media organizations to verify the accuracy of medical advertising content before dissemination. Read more.

The Ministry of Education has partnered with Huawei to launch a pilot AI teacher assistant system integrated directly into the national curriculum. Read more.

In a bid to make Ethiopia’s telecom sector competitive with neighboring countries, Ethiopia needs to invest around $5 billion in additional investments, says Andualem Admassie (PhD), Chief External Affairs Officer at Safaricom Ethiopia. Read more.

Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abiebie says the city is still burdened by nearly 30 billion Birr in outstanding housing-related debt, a liability city officials say continues to constrain efforts to finance new condominium projects through bank loans. Read more.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew announced that the airline has placed orders for more than 100 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, with deliveries expected by 2032. Read more.