Ethiopia’s central bank is injecting $50m into the market this week, giving banks brief FX relief but the move also underscores the deeper structural shortages and persistent parallel-market pressures still weighing on the economy.
Ethiopia’s central bank is injecting $50m into the market this week, giving banks brief FX relief but the move also underscores the deeper structural shortages and persistent parallel-market pressures still weighing on the economy.
Ethio Telecom’s 2025 financials reveal a sharp contrast between strong revenue growth and rising financial strain. While the operator expanded its top line and asset base, a surge in finance costs and short-term obligations reshaped the company’s risk profile, offering investors a more complex picture beneath the headline numbers.
Ethiopia’s central bank has issued a landmark Basel-aligned capital directive, reshaping how banks measure and manage risk.
Ethiopia’s birr weakened across every segment of the foreign-exchange market over the past month, with cash-based bureau rates recording the steepest drop. New data from Dashen Bank, Rooha Forex Bureau, and the National Bank of Ethiopia shows the birr losing between 4% and nearly 10% against the dollar in October, widening the gap between official and cash markets and signaling renewed pressure on hard-currency supply despite policy hints of future stability.
Ethiopian banks are celebrating their inclusion in Africa’s Top 100 Banks 2025, but the rankings rely on pre-float data from June 2024 months before the birr’s sharp devaluation. The result: inflated dollar valuations and a misleading picture of Ethiopia’s banking strength amid ongoing currency and capital-market reforms.
Ethiopia continues to defy regional headwinds, with the IMF projecting the economy to grow by 7.2% in 2025 nearly double the Sub-Saharan African average. While major economies like Nigeria and South Africa struggle to regain momentum, Ethiopia’s mix of infrastructure expansion, financial reforms, and agricultural recovery is cementing its position as one of the continent’s fastest-growing markets.
Ethiopia’s biweekly FX auctions have become a rare anchor in a volatile currency market. The August 5 auction showed how timely injections of liquidity can calm both official and parallel rates. But narrowing the stubborn gap requires more than consistency it calls for scaled-up auctions, stronger remittance incentives, and a united push from banks and government. Done right, this approach could shift hard currency back to official channels, rebuild reserves, and gradually erode the parallel market’s grip.
