Natran Abdulfetah

#EBR_News Sep 30, 2026

Africa faces an infrastructure financing gap of $68 billion to $108 billion according to African Development Bank reports, alongside critical shortages in skilled professionals and engineers needed to drive a historic construction wave that requires building as much infrastructure in the next 25 years as was achieved over the past century.

This reality took center stage at the EACE 27th Convention & International Infrastructure Conference 2026, held at the Sheraton Addis Hotel from September 28–29 in Addis Ababa. Convening engineers, policymakers, contractors, and international partners, the landmark summit focused on how the continent can overcome its financial and skill constraints to deliver sustainable development.

Amanuel Hailemariam, President of the Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers (EACE), emphasized that physical development must go hand-in-hand with social responsibility.

“Whatever we do, we should include the word sustainability,” Amanuel stated, stressing that with 70% of Africa’s population consisting of youth, he noted that the sector must be inclusive of everyone affected by projects. Pointing out that many modern corridor projects are driven by young engineers running small and medium enterprises, he called for expanding this model across Africa and integrating financial support into regional projects.

On the national front, Ethiopia’s construction sector is experiencing rapid expansion, with projected annual growth reaching 7.7% through 2029. However, Esayas Gebreyohaness (PhD), Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Addis Ababa University, warned that the core challenge has shifted from simple volume to execution quality.

“Massive infrastructure development has changed the economic and physical landscape of the country,”  Esayas noted. “Although constructing more is important, the key challenge now is constructing better, faster, safer, and in a more resilient manner.”

Highlighting massive undertakings, such as a national housing initiative targeting 1.5 billion in development over five years, Esayas stressed the need to scale up standards, cost efficiency technology, serviceability, safety, and logistical supply chains. To navigate rising high-rise building demands, complex complexities, and natural or man-made disasters, he announced that a comprehensive set of 48 newly revised engineering codes addressing modern global technologies and localization will be launched soon.

The revision aims to enhance structural robustness and connect design quality with operational sustainability, material usage, and local adaptation.

The event brought together international delegates from several countries, including Nigeria, Somalia, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus, Namibia, Tunisia, Ghana, and the UK.

On the second day of the event, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between Midroc Investment Group and PMI Global to build workforce capacity, as well as between the Somalia Engineers Association and the Engineering Professions Association of Namibia.

The consensus remains that bridging Africa’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure gap requires aligning robust financial frameworks with modernized regulatory codes, uncompromised safety, and intensive empowerment of the continent’s youthful engineering workforce.

#EBR_News Sep 19, 2026

Wegagen Bank S.C. reported profit before tax of 4.3 billion birr for the 2025/26 fiscal year, a 12 peercent increase from 3.85 billion birr the previous year,according to the bank’s financial performance presented at its 33rd Ordinary and 16th Extraordinary Shareholders General Meeting, held at Hilton Hotel Addis Ababa on Saturday.

The net profit followed an income tax expense of 1.15 billion birr on a profit before tax of 4.3 billion birr, itself a 12 percent increase from 3.85 billion birr the previous year.

Basic and diluted earnings per share stood at 34.40 percent for the year, down from 46.10 percent in 2024/25, a decline that comes even as absolute profit grew, reflecting the bank’s paid-up capital expanding from 7.0 billion birr to 10.09 billion birr during the year, a 44 percent increase in outstanding capital against which earnings are measured.

The bank’s profit growth has moderated over the past two fiscal years after a sharper rise before that: net profit rose from 1.60 billion birr in 2023/24 to 2.78 billion birr in 2024/25, a 73 percent increase, before growing a further 13.6 percent to 3.15 billion birr in 2025/26.

Presenting the fiscal year report to shareholders, Board Chairperson Abdishu Hussein said Wegagen Bank expanded its balance sheet, strengthened its capital position, and advanced key business and technology initiatives despite domestic and global challenges.

 According to Abdishu, total assets rose 32 percent to 111.3 billion birr, deposits increased 23 percent to 81.3 billion birr, and gross loans and advances grew 26 percent to 67.3 billion birr as of June 30, 2026.

He said foreign currency generation reached $366 million, marking a 34 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, driven by export proceeds, foreign exchange market dealings, and remittances.

Chief Executive Officer Aklilu Wubet (PhD) said the bank’s priorities extend beyond financial results, focusing on building a customer-centric, digitally enabled, and operationally efficient institution. He said the bank’s new five-year strategy prioritises investments in systems, people, partnerships, and risk management to deliver sustainable results.

Abdishu also highlighted the bank’s digital lending platform, Efoyta, which he said disbursed more than 9 billion birr to 430,890 borrowers, primarily women, youth, and MSMEs, supporting financial inclusion. Beyond digital lending, the bank added 639,038 new deposit accounts during the year, a 15 percent increase, bringing total deposit accounts to just over 5 million.

Mobile banking subscriptions rose 21 percent to 4,087,775, while internet banking subscriptions jumped 86 percent to 41,494 and cardholders increased 45 percent to 537,651. A digital wallet partnership with E-Birr yielded 664,347 E-float accounts, supported by a network of 7,445 agents.

The bank’s loan portfolio remained diversified across sectors, led by import financing at 22.2 percent, construction at 19 percent, export financing at 18.2 percent, domestic trade and services at 15 percent, manufacturing at 13.4 percent, and transport services at 8.2 percent, with digital lending accounting for the remaining 2 percent.

The bank’s Interest Free Banking service mobilised a net deposit of 143 million birr during the year, a 3 percent increase, bringing total outstanding interest-free deposits to 4.9 billion birr.

Total income for the fiscal year reached 16.4 billion birr, up 21 percent from 13.5 billion birr in the preceding year, while total expenses grew 25 percent to 12.1 billion birr, driven primarily by interest expense at 38.3 percent of the total and employee salaries and benefits at 36.5 percent.

Return on Average Assets stood at 3.2 percent and Return on Average Equity at 20.9 percent for the year. Total equity increased 35 percent to 17.3 billion birr, contributed by 15,598 shareholders, up from 7.0 billion birr in paid-up capital the previous year.

On institutional expansion, the bank said it onboarded 485 new institutional partners during the fiscal year, including 185 schools, 158 health centres, 61 entities across unions and utilities, 43 savings and credit cooperatives, and 38 water and sanitation offices.

 The bank’s physical distribution network expanded to 458 branches, supported by 398 ATMs, 651 point-of-sale terminals, and 7,445 agents. Workforce, including contract personnel, stood at 5,555 employees as of June 30, 2026, with the bank providing 7,138 staff training opportunities during the year, backed by an investment of 94.5 million birr.

Over the five-year period from 2021/22 to 2025/26, the bank’s growth has been sustained across key metrics. Total deposits increased from 33.9 billion birr to 81.3 billion birr, gross loans and advances grew from 30.1 billion birr to 67.3 billion birr, and total assets rose from 43.1 billion birr to 111.3 billion birr.

Total capital expanded from 5.6 billion birr to 17.3 billion birr, and paid-up capital increased from 3.4 billion birr to 10.1 billion birr over the same period. Profit before tax rose from 572 million birr in 2021/22 to 4.307 billion birr by the end of 2025/26.

In his message to shareholders, Abdishu described the operating environment during the fiscal year as one of significant economic, regulatory, and competitive change.

He said global economic activity remained resilient but uneven amid geopolitical uncertainty, trade tensions, elevated debt levels, and volatility in commodity and energy markets, with the outbreak of war in the Middle East introducing a further shock that disrupted energy markets and international trade routes, including severe interruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

He cited the International Monetary Fund’s July 2026 World Economic Outlook update, which projected global growth at 3.0 percent for 2026, revised down 0.1 percentage points from its April 2026 projection, with the IMF noting that the global disinflation process had stalled temporarily due to the conflict and associated energy-price pressures.

Domestically, Abdishu said Ethiopia continued to advance its macroeconomic reform agenda while maintaining strong economic activity, with growth projections of 10 percent.

He said headline inflation declined to single digits by December 2025 and remained within that range through March 2026, before edging upward again later in the year, largely reflecting external shocks stemming from the Middle East conflict and resulting disruptions to fuel supplies.

He said these developments generated broader spillover effects on domestic production, monetary and fiscal policy conditions, and the implementation of ongoing macroeconomic reforms, while changes to the risk-based capital adequacy framework and the liberalisation of interest rates and foreign-exchange rates continued to shape a more market-oriented and competitive banking system during the year.

#EBR_News Sep 17, 2026

Ethiopia has slashed its legal date import bill from 9.8 million USD five years ago to just 650,000 USD last year, a drop of more than 90 percent, according to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Agriculture at a press conference held at its Addis Ababa office on September 17, 2026.

The decline was presented as evidence of growing domestic production capacity ahead of the Second International Date Palm Festival, set to take place in Semera, Afar Region, from September 20 to 22.

Ali Mohammed, advisor to the State Minister of Agriculture, said the figure excludes dates brought into the country informally by individuals, meaning actual national demand for imported dates remains somewhat higher than the official number suggests.

Still, he pointed to the trend as a sign that Ethiopia’s date palm sector, long dominated by scattered, traditional cultivation, is beginning to respond to deliberate government intervention.

That intervention includes a forthcoming 10-year research and development programme aimed at modernising production methods and scaling up output for both domestic consumption and export, Ali said.

He noted that Ethiopia currently has the potential to bring more than 500,000 hectares of land under date palm cultivation, a figure that dwarfs existing production levels and points to the scale of the untapped opportunity in the sector.

Afar remains the country’s leading date-producing region, followed by the Ethiopian Somali Region, Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, parts of Oromia including Borena and Guji, and Dire Dawa.

Harun Ali, deputy head of the Afar Region Agriculture and Natural Resources Bureau, said date palm cultivation in Afar has a documented history of more than 250 years, traditionally used for both human consumption and livestock feed, and remains deeply tied to the livelihoods and culture of the Afar people.

The festival itself, now in its second edition, is being organised jointly with the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, representing the UAE.

Abdelouahhab Zaid, representing the Khalifa Award, said this year’s programme would focus more heavily on knowledge transfer, capacity building for growers, and building an integrated value chain from cultivar selection through to processing and market access, building on a UAE-Ethiopia relationship he said spans five decades.

Officials said Semera offers investment-ready plots, suitable land, and abundant water resources, and used the briefing to invite private investors and international partners to explore opportunities in the sector.

Harun added that the region, under President Awol Arba, has already begun capacity-building training for local farmers following lessons drawn from the first festival held in Semera last year.

#EBR_News Sep 16, 2026

Ethiopia has achieved WHO verification of its National Emergency Medical Team, positioning the country as the first civilian Emergency Medical Team in the WHO African Region to attain international WHO classification, alongside Senegal’s classified military EMT, according to a WHO news release dated September 15, 2026.

According to WHO, the verification confirms that the Ethiopian National EMT meets internationally recognised standards for quality, readiness, deployment capacity, and emergency medical response.

The team underwent a rigorous verification process covering governance, clinical services, logistics, information management, infection prevention and control, water, sanitation and hygiene, and operational readiness.

WHO said earlier pre-verification and simulation exercises demonstrated the team’s ability to establish and operate a fully functional field hospital and respond to complex public health emergencies.

Ethiopian Health Minister Mekdes Daba said the achievement demonstrates the country’s readiness to protect communities when emergencies strike. “We are prepared, we are committed, and we are ready,” Mekdes said, according to the release.

Mesay Hailu, Director General of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, said the classification is “not a recognition we claim for ourselves, but one earned through rigorous and independent international verification.”

WHO said the milestone comes as 30 African countries are currently developing national EMT capacities, supported by the Regional Framework on Emergency Medical Teams 2026–2030, adopted during the 76th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa held in Addis Ababa in August 2026.

According to WHO, the Ethiopian National EMT has already been deployed domestically, including mobilisation during the Gamo Zone landslide response and contributions to preparedness and response efforts for emerging disease outbreaks.

The release noted that WHO recognised the contributions of UK-Med, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, and other EMT Network partners, mentors, and donors that supported Ethiopia’s EMT development.

WHO said the Regional EMT Training and Knowledge Hub in Addis Ababa, established through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ethiopian government and WHO, has supported training and simulation exercises and now serves as a regional platform to strengthen EMT capacities across Africa.

The classification comes ahead of the 7th Global Emergency Medical Teams Meeting, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa from November 3 to 5, 2026, marking the first time the global EMT gathering will be hosted in the WHO African Region, according to WHO.

Francis Chisaka Kasolo, WHO Representative to Ethiopia, the African Union, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the achievement reflects what can be built through national leadership, sustained investment, and strong partnerships.

Natran abdulfetah

#EBR_News Sep 4, 2026

Ethiopian technology startup OrbiX Technologies PLC launched its multi-sector digital platform , introducing a unified ecosystem designed to connect urban mobility, municipal infrastructure, civic reporting, and tourism services across Ethiopia. The announcement was made during a press briefing held yesterday on thursday at the company’s premises.

The platform marks a structural departure from traditional, single-purpose mobile applications. Rather than treating services in isolation, OrbiX brings everyday urban operations into a single digital environment where routine user interactions generate data for municipal planning and service optimization.

The initial launch unifies four main operational pillars into this single network. Its Smart Parking module replaces attendant-driven operations with a self-service model that allows drivers to locate, reserve, and pay for parking in under 30 seconds.

Alongside parking, the OrbiX EV component manages charging station discovery, real-time availability tracking, and digital payments to support Ethiopia’s national goal of deploying 2,230 EV charging stations nationwide.

This mobility framework links directly with civic management through iHub, a tool enabling residents to report road damage, utility issues, and vehicle collisions with photo and location evidence, turning public feedback into tracked agency workflows.

Completing the interconnected setup, the Ethio Parks module digitizes national destinations and historical sites, offering booking and navigation tools for domestic tourists and international delegates attending events like UN COP32.

“Our ambition is not simply to put existing services on a smartphone,” said Founder and CEO Seyoum Tesfay. “We want to build an ecosystem where services connect, information becomes actionable and technology helps people and institutions make better decisions.”

OrbiX Technologies PLC is an Ethiopian startup building homegrown intellectual property to drive digital transformation. The firm focuses on creating scalable software systems that unify people, infrastructure, and public institutions to build connected, data-driven cities aligned with the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy.

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Betegbar Yaregal

#EBR_News Sep 9, 2026

Ethiopia’s diaspora remittances reached $8.2 billion in the 2025/26 fiscal year, up from $7.1 billion the previous year, Fitsum Arega, Director General of the Ethiopian Diaspora Service, said at the official launch of Oromia Bank’s Abba Fardaa digital remittance platform, held at Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. Fitsum said the figures are based on data from the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The scale of that inflow places Ethiopia among the more significant remittance economies on the continent. Ethiopia ranked fourth in Africa for remittance inflows in 2024, behind Egypt at $22.7 billion, Nigeria at $19.8 billion, and Morocco at $12.05 billion, and ahead of Kenya at $4.94 billion, according to global remittance data. Ethiopia’s 2024 inflows of $7.1 billion represented 4.8 percent of the country’s GDP that year.

Fitsum said the growth has been building over five years. He said the three years preceding the two most recent fiscal years averaged over $5.5 billion annually, and that combined with the $7.1 billion recorded in 2024/25 and the $8.2 billion recorded in 2025/26, the five-year period has brought roughly $32.4 billion into Ethiopia in remittances. 

He attributed the growth to Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform programme and subsequent banking sector reforms, particularly the transition to a market-based foreign exchange system, which he said has strengthened the flow of remittances through formal banking channels.

In October 2025, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia said only 22 percent of Ethiopia’s diaspora remittances, estimated at $7.2 billion, were flowing through formal channels, while the remaining 78 percent moved through informal networks, including hawala and black-market currency dealers. 

Speaking in Pretoria, South Africa, CBE President Abe Sano told Ethiopians and second-generation diaspora members that if diaspora funds were fully channeled through formal mechanisms, Ethiopia could generate more than $35 billion annually. He urged the diaspora community to increase the use of formal remittance channels and expand investment in Ethiopia.

Fitsum said digital platforms such as Kacha, which bring modern operational systems into the remittance space, have helped create a more favourable environment for formal transfers. He said there are currently 76 money transfer operators registered with the National Bank of Ethiopia, though only six operate at the level of Kacha or offer integration across systems naming Telebirr and M-Pesa, both backed by telecom companies, alongside Kacha, as among this group.

The cost of sending money remains a global factor shaping whether diaspora communities use formal or informal channels. 

The World Bank reported that the global average cost of sending $200 stood at 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, above the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent, with digital remittances costing an average of 5 percent compared to 7 percent for non-digital methods, a gap that underpins the push by Ethiopian banks and fintechs toward app-based and wallet-linked transfer platforms.

On digital infrastructure, Fitsum pointed to Ethiopia’s Digital 2025 strategy, saying the country had surpassed 80 million mobile subscribers by the end of 2025, with a target of reaching 115 million subscribers by 2030. He cited the Ethio Coders programme and the push toward cashless transactions as part of the same digital literacy effort.

Fitsum also said the Ethiopian government has signed labour agreements with five countries Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan and is in discussions with Bahrain, alongside a separate skills and employment agreement signed with Italy. 

He said working closely with these countries allows Ethiopia to address challenges facing Ethiopian workers abroad, including Know Your Customer verification hurdles, rather than only passively receiving remittance funds. 

He described the Ethiopian Diaspora Service as an independent institution under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with diaspora diplomats posted in more than 50 embassies abroad and regular forums held with the Ministry and Ethiopian ambassadors to strengthen the legal flow of remittances.

Globally, Ethiopia’s remittance economy remains modest by the standards of the world’s largest recipients. According to World Bank Migration and Development tracking for 2024–2025, India led all countries in remittance receipts at an estimated $125 billion to $135 billion, followed by Mexico, China, the Philippines, and France. The United States remained the world’s largest source of outward remittances in 2024, sending over $100 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Germany, and the UAE.

EBR_News Sep 2, 2026

The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) inaugurated its first permanent office in Africa in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, positioning Ethiopia as Brazil’s institutional entry point into the continent after years of declining trade between the two sides. The ceremony was held at the Skylight Hotel and brought together senior Ethiopian and Brazilian officials, business representatives and diplomatic missions.

Jandyr Ferreira dos Santos, Brazil’s ambassador to Ethiopia, said Brazil had also expanded its institutional presence in Addis Ababa in recent years, establishing an agricultural attaché office and a federal police attaché alongside the new ApexBrasil office, and that Brazil had backed Ethiopia’s accession process to the World Trade Organization.

The Addis Ababa opening capped a weeklong Southern Africa business mission that began on 26 August 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and continued through Lusaka, Zambia, and Maputo, Mozambique, where Brazil served as Guest Country of Honour at the Maputo International Fair, according to Brasil 247. The Ethiopia leg was the mission’s final and only stop outside Southern Africa, and the one where ApexBrasil formally opened its new office. 

The office follows a proposal from the Ethiopian Investment Commission after ApexBrasil led its largest ever business mission to Ethiopia in February 2026, according to Meles Alem, director general for European and American affairs at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That mission brought more than 70 Brazilian delegates to Addis Ababa, produced over 300 business-to-business meetings, and resulted in memoranda of understanding, including one between Ethiopia’s Kerchanshe Group and Brazil’s agricultural research corporation, Embrapa, Meles said.

The inauguration builds on recent diplomatic momentum. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil visited Ethiopia in 2024, while Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) visited Brazil the following year, with the two leaders agreeing to deepen economic ties at the Rio Summit in July 2025, Meles said. Ethiopia and Brazil are marking 75 years of diplomatic relations this year, and both countries are members of the BRICS bloc.

Laudemir Müller, president of ApexBrasil, said Brazil’s trade with Africa had grown from around five billion dollars in 2002 to 28 billion dollars in 2013, before falling to a low of 11.5 billion dollars in 2020. Trade has since recovered to 25 billion dollars in 2025, Müller said, adding that Ethiopia was selected for the agency’s first African office partly because its economy is projected to grow nine percent this year and its imports already exceed 23 billion dollars.

Ethiopian Investment Commissioner Zeleke Temesgen (PhD) said the office arrives as Ethiopia carries out reforms under its Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, including a market-determined exchange rate, a modernised monetary framework and steps to strengthen financial sector resilience. 

Zeleke said these measures had contributed to declining inflation, expanding foreign exchange availability and rising investor confidence, and noted Ethiopia’s recent accession to the New Development Bank as a further source of financing for large scale investment.

Meles said Ethiopia’s position as a diplomatic and aviation hub, supported by Ethiopian Airlines’ daily direct flight to São Paulo, gave Brazilian companies unmatched access to the continent, while the country’s membership of the African Continental Free Trade Area opens a market of over 1.4 billion consumers. 

The office is expected to focus on sectors including agriculture, agroprocessing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, mining and renewable energy, according to the Ethiopian Investment Commission.

Müller said the new office would allow ApexBrasil to pursue opportunities in Ethiopia and the wider East African market on a continuous basis rather than through periodic missions, describing permanence as a way to carry relationships and projects through from start to finish.

#ApexBrasil #EthiopiaBrazil #ForeignDirectInvestment #BRICS #TradeAndInvestment #EthiopianEconomy #AfCFTA