It was Malcolm X, the African-American Human Rights Activist, who said that “media is the most powerful entity on earth.” Especially in the western world, it is regarded as the most powerful actor in the political realm. In fact, it is so important that it is often called the unofficial fourth branch of government.

For long, Ethiopia has been known as a hostile country for journalists with a leading record amongst the global community of nations for jailing and incriminating media professionals. This record finally changed in 2019, a year which passed with zero journalists imprisoned and incriminated. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrated that year’s World Press Freedom Day in Addis Ababa, as recognition for the country improving the state of its media since the coming to power of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and to further encourage the opening up of the space for media freedom.

The need to take necessary precautions to avoid regret.

Since the unveiling of the administration’s Homegrown Economic Reform Plan and restart of the accession process with the World Trade Organization (WTO), talks of economic liberalization have been heating up in Ethiopia. Indeed, the liberalization process of the telecom sector is well underway and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) himself has indicated that the hitherto closed financial sector will be next in line. Speeding up of WTO accession is one of the plans in the plan. The government’s aspirations of reforming the economy and WTO accession may imply that the government will inevitably open up the financial sector in the near future, with the ongoing deregulations set as good launching pads.

Over the past few decades, financial inclusion has remained among the top global agendas. In 2011, public institutions in 40 countries signed the Maya Declaration of Alliance for Financial Inclusion aimed at broader access to financial services at lower costs. Similarly, the World Bank began publishing comprehensive reports on financial inclusion in 2011. Ethiopia developed “The National Financial Inclusion Strategy” in 2017, containing several targets.

After so many years of trials and setbacks during revisions, the Commercial Code has finally crossed the last legislative milestone, an approval by the Parliament on March 25, 2021, repealing the old Commercial Code of Ethiopia, which was in service for the last six decades. The revision started three decades ago, but partly because of the lack of institutional will and political instability, it has taken decades to get past the Parliament. The last two years of Ethiopia’s political transition have seen a flurry of major legislative reforms, and it is perhaps no coincidence that the revision of the Commercial Code has been successful during this period. Now, Ethiopia has a new insolvency law.

Samrawit Fikru’s Account of the Difficulties

The world has come to a grinding halt because of the coronavirus pandemic. Factories have stopped operations. Corporations that generated millions of dollars every day have ceased functioning. No one seems immune to the health, economic, and social hazards of the ongoing crisis. With no end in sight yet, businesses are being forced to lay off their highly valued employees as their expenses surpass the revenues they generate.

The accelerating rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in many advanced economies has set the stage for rapid recovery in the second half of this year and into 2022. Although growth in digital and digitally enabled sectors will level out somewhat, high-employment service industries will ride a wave of pent-up demand.

The news of the establishment of a capital market has been received with hype and enthusiasm. It is hoped that it would support the national economy through the mobilization of capital for new ventures, promotion of new financial products, etc.
The idea of forming a securities exchange was raised in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Unfortunately, with the emergence of the developmental state model in Ethiopia in the middle of the 2000s, the idea was shelved. More than a decade has had to pass for the issue to resurface. As part of the recent economic reform package, the agenda of establishing a securities exchange came to light. After two years of efforts, the Council of Minsters approved the establishment of a capital market. A couple years ago, when the idea gained increasing attention, it was promised that the market would be operational in 2020. But there is still much work to be done.

In today’s globalized world, FDI follows higher earning rates, provided a conducive business ecosystem is in place. Although most developed countries do not have investment-specific legislations there is competition amongst developing countries to adopt a more market-friendly policy to attract the much-sought FDI for their economic development.

The Ethiopian economy has been at the same level of growth and productivity for the last four decades. Economic growth, transformation, and development could not keep up with the speed and pressures of population growth. Unless population takeoff is backed by economic takeoff at the same time, the consequence is dire crisis. The population of the country has grown fast in these decades making Ethiopia the second-most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa with a population of over 100 million. Currently, the Ethiopian population is increasing by over two million people a year.