Ashenafi Endale

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) failed to recover 900 million birr in loans it provided to projects in Tigray as a result of the yearlong conflict in the region. Consequently, the bank has declared them Non-Performing Loans (NPL).

The need for cash notes and physical presence at market places has gone down significantly, especially since COVID-19. Online orders and payment, digital transaction, home delivery businesses, and even digital health services, e-learning and e-governance have become the buzz words as the pandemic has disturbed the natural course of economic activities.

Isayas Lemma is Crop Development Director at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Recently, a new field assessment landed on his table.

In a bid to bypass the foreign currency shortage that forced halt the import of Bt Cotton seeds, the Indian based JK Agri Genetics Ltd. is negotiating to bring its patent and multiply Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds in Ethiopia.

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is finalizing legal frameworks that enable private companies provide agricultural extension programs, The Reporter learnt. The move would effectively end government monopoly of the service.

Over the years, external loan has been the low hanging fruit for the government of Ethiopia to bridge the wide gap between exponentially growing investment needs and meager domestic resource mobilization. Behind most of Ethiopia’s major public projects are financiers waiting for a return of their loans.

Yillebes Addis is the CEO of EthSwitch. His knowledge of financial technologies coupled with management skills make him suited for developing countries like Ethiopia, where e-commerce is taking baby steps. During his maiden year at the helm, which was three years ago, EthSwitch recorded profit for the first time after covering losses for years.

Recovering from the severe economic damage inflicted by the war in northern Ethiopia and bringing back the economy of Amhara regional state to pre-Tigray war economic status would take thirty to forty years of endeavor, revealed an assessment by the Planning Commission of the Amhara Regional State.

A new public entity dubbed ‘manufacturing industries development institute’ envisages installing Research and Development (R&D) centers for six sectors including metal, textile, leather, chemical, electronics and agroindustry.

The state telecom giant, ethio telecom, lost 1.9 billion Birr in revenue due to the conflict in the northern part of the country. As a result, its revenue for the first quarter of 2021/22 Ethiopian fiscal year fell 12 percent short of its planned 15.4 billion Birr.