Content: Fortune News

A sweeping corruption probe is taking place in Oromia Regional State where investigators have apprehended 77 suspects, including Bahiru Tekle, mayor of Gelan town. The wave of arrests began a week ago and continued today. Most of the suspects have appeared before court; investigators from the Oromia Region’s Anti-Corruption Commission have received the right of […]

A former senior staff for the United Nations has been appointed to chair the state owned but troubled bank, the Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE). Tegegnework Gettu (PhD), former regional director at UNDP, has replaced Shiferaw Shuigute as a chairperson, after receiving a letter of appointment signed by Beyene G. Mesqel, director general of Public […]

Twenty ambassadors appointment by President Sahle-worq Zewdie was made yesterday.

Hundreds of tenants for state owned commercial housing in Addis Abeba protested the recent steep rental fee increase, marching today to the head office of the Federal Housing Corporation. The tenants, who furiously disputed the sudden rental hikes, which in some cases have risen more than 60-fold, demonstrated for two hours in the morning. The […]

Last week was not business as usual for the TPLF – a senior member of the coalitions in the ruling EPRDF. The party lost the support of its allies on its stand in parliament to stop the establishment of the Administrative Demarcations & Identity Issues Commission. In parliament, the trend of the legislative body was […]

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE), the state policy bank, repossessed the textile plant of Ayka Addis Textile & Investment Group from its defaulted Turkish owners . The decision was made by the Bank’s management and subsequently approved by its board. The decision also involved the Ministry of Trade & Industry and Textile Industries & […]

The Federal Housing Corporation’s first increase in commercial rental fees in 43 years in Addis Abeba has caused significant tumult among the business class across the city. In a letter addressed and sent to each tenant on December 18, 2018, the Corporation announced hikes in commercial unit rental fees by an average rate of between […]

The central bank is amending its directives to raise insurance company investment ceilings on acquisition and construction of buildings; and to ease the maximum liquidity level imposed by the central bank previously. The new directive will enable insurance firms to invest up to 25pc of their total assets derived from their general insurance business on […]

The long-awaited census, the fourth in the nation’s history, will be held between April 7 and April 22, 2019. Initially scheduled to be conducted in November 2017, the census was postponed again to March 2018 due to public unrest and violence in the country. The continued unrest also caused further postponement until the current date […]

The decade-old Oromia Insurance Company registered one of the highest growth rates in the industry for the second year in a row. The insurance firm grew its net profits by 127pc to 72.5 million Br compared to the previous year. It also increased its shareholder return by 41pc in the corresponding year. The CEO of […]

The Council of Ministers approved a regulation that empowers the Ethiopian Energy Authority to regulate energy efficiency performance standards of equipment and appliances. Approved on December 15, 2018, the 40-page draft regulation took four years to finalize and was pushed back to the Authority for a revision six times before its final approval. The Ethiopian […]

Police have brought an additional six allegations against Kinfe Dagnew (Maj. Gen), former head of Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) and a suspect in crimes of corruption, making the sum total of allegations against him 18. The 10th Criminal Bench of Lideta Division allowed the investigators a third 14-day custody right to hold Kinfe and […]

Following grievances lodged by residents, Bole District Environment Protection Authority shut down 14 nightclubs in the Gerji, area accusing them of creating noise pollution. The district revoked the licenses of 14 nightclubs effective November 2, 2018. Residents of the area gathered and submitted a petition with 126 signatures on June 16, 2018, claiming that the […]

The city of Dire Dawa has welcomed the completion of 14 potable-water wells built at a cost of one billion Birr with financing from the World Bank and the city administration. The water wells in Borren and Tomie vicinities have a combined pumping capacity of 31,000 cubic meters of water a day. World Bank’s largesse […]

Federal Judges have granted Police appeal to keep under custody Kinfe Dagnew (Maj. Gen), former head of Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), who is suspected of grand corruption, yet for the third time. Presided by Judge Christian Baylegne, the 10th Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court has granted police additional 14-day. Kinfe was arrested […]

Mohammed Al Amoudi’s (Sheikh) vast assets in Ethiopia amount to only his second largest after those in Sweden, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The index shows that his assets in Ethiopia are valued at 1.2 billion dollars, which is close to five times higher than the assets he owns in Saudi Arabia, the country […]

Former President of Ethiopia, Girma Wolde-Giorgis, who has been under treatment at the Nordic Medical Centre, passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Hospitalized for the past two weeks, Girma entered into a deteriorating condition last Monday, according to his private nurse, Asnakech Kebede. He was kept alive on a life support system since […]

Ethiopia is negotiating to enter the African Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to create a free, single continental market for goods and services. Last week, the latest negotiation was held in Cairo, Egypt during the seventh ministerial meeting. Ethiopia was represented by Mamo Meheretu, Chief Trade Negotiator and senior adviser to Prime Minister Abiy […]

The central bank has remitted 40.1 million Br in fines it levied on seven banks that failed to invest two percent of their expenses on staff training. In a letter issued on November 27, 2018, Solomon Desta, director of banking supervision at the National Bank of Ethiopia, notified the banks of the remit, but ordered […]

A partnership between local and Chinese construction companies has won a deal to finish the headquarters building of Nile Insurance for 872 million Br. Rama Construction and China Jiangsu International Economic & Technical Cooperation have won a bid to complete the finishing work on the 25-storey building. The agreement was signed between Nigus Anteneh, CEO […]

The management and students of the Addis Abeba Science & Technology University, one of the 45 public universities in the country, have been at loggerheads with each other since December 03, 2018. Tensions surfaced soon after the University’s student union presented a set of grievances to the administration. Students raised issues over job opportunities, post-graduate […]

A bill, which has stringent rules on the use, sale, advertisement and retail of tobacco and alcohol, has reached the final stages of legislation in  parliament. Drafted by a joint force of the Food & Drug Administration Authority, Ministry of Health, World Bank and World Health Organisation, the bill was submitted to parliament last week. […]

The Ethiopian Road Authority signed agreements for the construction of a network of roads totaling nearly 724Km for 16.3 billion Br. The agreement encompasses 10 road projects across Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Somalia and Gambella regions. The agreements were signed by Habtamu Tegegne, head of the Ethiopian Roads Authority, and the representatives of five local and […]

The Addis Abeba Solid Waste Administration Agency is set to build 74 primary dump collection sites across all districts of the city. They will replace the current 819 open-air dump collection containers around the city. The tender processes for 32 of the sites have been completed, and their construction will cost the city 114.9 million […]

Headline inflation, which has drifted upward to double-digit figures for the past 15 monthes, edged down to 10.6pc. The rate, which is considered an indicator of the cost of living, fell for the fourth consecutive month. The inflationary pressure of the previous month, measured by twelve general indices, was recorded at 11.5pc. At the beginning […]