Good morning!
We hope your holiday was worth it, the portions were generous, and you truly enjoyed every bite. While you were deep in holiday mode, we were busy behind the scenes, tracking the stories, connecting the dots, and putting everything together so your Monday starts informed, sharp, and ahead of the curve.
Now grab your buna, Ethiopia has been busy.
Finance & Banking
Wegagen Bank joins IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program with a $10M guarantee
Wegagen Bank signed a partnership with the International Finance Corporation, securing a $10 million trade finance guarantee under the IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program. The deal, signed by CEO Aklilu Wubet and IFC Country Manager Madalo Minofu, is designed to reduce payment risks for Ethiopian importers and exporters accessing regional and global markets. Wegagen, which became the first private bank listed on the Ethiopian Capital Market will also channel the facility toward SMEs that have historically struggled to access cross-border trade finance. The partnership builds on IFC’s ongoing advisory work with the bank on risk management and treasury operations.
CBE’s digital transactions hit 15 trillion birr in nine months
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia announced in its nine-month performance report that more than 15 trillion birr in transactions were processed through digital channels, capturing 73% of all digital transactions in the country, according to its Vice President of Digital Banking, Ato Mideksa Tolosa. The figure puts the scale of Ethiopia’s digital banking shift in sharp relief: a single state bank holds nearly three-quarters of the country’s digital volume. How much room the remaining 27% can grow and who captures it, is the more interesting question for 2026. Source: Capital Ethiopia
Fintech & Digital Payments
Mastercard expands Ethiopia footprint with StarPay and Choice Microfinance deals
Global payments giant Mastercard signed back-to-back deals with StarPay Financial Services and Choice Microfinance Institution, both part of the EagleLion System Technology Group. Under a Reseller Partnership Agreement, StarPay will market and distribute Mastercard’s payment products in Ethiopia. Separately, Choice Microfinance, the country’s first fully digital MFI, will deploy Mastercard-enabled credit and inclusion products for underserved segments. Mastercard also awarded an “Excellence in Fintech” recognition to EagleLion founder Bersufekad Getachew Amare at the ceremony. The moves mark a deepening of Mastercard’s strategic bet on Ethiopia’s digital finance ecosystem.
Destta launches remittance platform targeting informal hawala flows
U.S.-registered fintech Destta officially launched its beta remittance platform in Ethiopia at the Hyatt Regency Addis Ababa, with founder Dawit Berhanu announcing capability to handle transfers from $5 to $1 million from 101+ countries. The platform is partnered with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia for local settlement and displays real-time CBE exchange rates with no hidden fees. Its arrival is well-timed: following the 2024 FX reforms, Ethiopia’s formal remittance flows have surged, yet over half of inflows are still estimated to move through informal channels like hawala. Destta is explicitly targeting that gap. The launch drew senior policymakers including Fitsum Arega, Eyob Tekalign, and Mamo Mihretu, signaling official appetite for formalizing diaspora money flows.
Ethio Telecom and Toll Roads launch RFID toll payment system on Addis-Adama Expressway
Ethio Telecom and the Ethiopian Toll Roads Enterprise unveiled an RFID-based electronic toll payment system for the Addis Ababa–Adama Expressway. Deployed via the ‘TOLO’ mini-app inside the Telebr Super App, the system automatically reads vehicle information as cars pass through gates, enabling instant cashless payment without stopping. The system also allows for digital payment of road fines, giving the enterprise real-time revenue visibility. For anyone who has sat through a toll queue on that corridor, this is welcome news and a meaningful infrastructure upgrade for Ethiopia’s busiest economic artery.
Economy & Reform
World Bank: Ethiopia’s SOE reforms generate $720M for the national budget
According to the World Bank, Ethiopia’s state-owned enterprise transformation is delivering tangible results. In the first nine months of FY 2024/25, federal SOEs contributed $600M in taxes and $120M in dividends — a combined $720M in budget support. The pivot from risk-management to growth orientation has been supported by the Bank since 2019 through the Reform Support Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Key milestones include the creation of a comprehensive SOE database at the Ministry of Finance, the establishment of an SOE Oversight Directorate, and adoption of international financial reporting standards. The World Bank’s Maryam Salim noted that the reforms demonstrate what’s possible when strong government leadership is paired with targeted support, positioning Ethiopia’s SOEs not as fiscal burdens, but as economic engines.
Ethiopia’s inflation eases to 9.4% in March 2026
Ethiopia’s headline inflation inched down to 9.4% in March from 9.7% in February, according to the Ethiopian Statistical Service, a third consecutive month inside single digits. Non-food inflation came in at 7%, while food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation edged up slightly to 11%, driven by vegetables, oils, and sugar. The highest sectoral increases were in miscellaneous goods and services (15%), transportation (13%), and clothing and footwear (11.3%). The broad disinflation trend reflects the National Bank’s tight monetary stance, fiscal discipline, and easing supply-side pressures, though rising global oil prices linked to the Middle East war remain an upside risk that policymakers are watching closely.
Global Positioning
Ethiopia rises to 23rd globally in the 2026 Outsourcing Talent Index
Ethiopia climbed to 23rd place in the 2026 Global Outsourcing Talent Index, a meaningful signal for the country’s push to build a BPO and digital services sector. The ranking reflects improvements in workforce quality, cost competitiveness, and digital infrastructure. Earlier this year, Ethiopian Investment Holdings announced a $25.56 million BPO project at Elevate Africa 2026 to capitalize on exactly this kind of recognition. With a young and growing workforce, competitive labor costs, and the government leaning in on outsourcing as an export revenue play, the 23rd ranking is not a ceiling, it’s a starting point. Source: Capital Ethiopia
Ethiopia wins two international arbitration cases worth over $850 million
Ethiopia secured decisive victories in two major international arbitration cases, successfully defending claims exceeding $850 million in total. The first, brought by Turkish construction firm Akgun Insaat, demanded over $500 million after authorities blocked industrial zone development near Addis Ababa’s freshwater sources. The tribunal affirmed Ethiopia acted within its sovereign authority. The second, filed by Dutch-registered Ethio Lease (African Asset Finance Company), sought over $350 million, alleging that the National Bank of Ethiopia’s requirement for Birr-denominated lease agreements breached investment protections. A tribunal in The Hague, chaired by Lucy Reed, unanimously dismissed all claims and ordered the claimant to reimburse Ethiopia for part of its legal costs. State Minister of Justice Belayihun Yirga described the wins as demonstrating that Ethiopia has the institutional strength to prevail in international legal arenas. The ministry is now in discussions to host a branch of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Addis Ababa.
US court blocks Trump administration from revoking TPS for 5,000 Ethiopians
A US federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot strip Temporary Protected Status from approximately 5,000 Ethiopians in the United States, halting a Department of Homeland Security move that was set to take effect in February 2026. The administration had argued that conditions in Ethiopia had stabilized sufficiently since the Tigray conflict to no longer meet the TPS threshold. Advocacy groups filed a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts, and the court sided with the plaintiffs, providing a legal check on executive immigration authority that observers say could have implications for other African nations with TPS designations. The ruling is temporary while the legal process continues. Source: Reuters
Nexudy: Ethiopian entrepreneur launches startup-investor matchmaking platform
Tenaw Derseh, an electronics engineer and data scientist trained at the University of Washington, launched Nexudy in 2025, a platform that connects startup founders with investors, mentors, and experts across Africa using intelligent matching algorithms. Nexudy supports founders from idea development through business growth, while giving investors access to already-structured, fund-ready startups. Derseh also co-founded Baacumen in 2024, a skills-building platform covering IT, coding, marketing, and creative fields. Nexudy speaks to a persistent gap in Africa’s startup ecosystem: not the absence of ideas, but the absence of structured pathways between ideas and capital.
The Birr in context: Sub-Saharan Africa’s weakest major currency in 2025
The Ethiopian birr is the weakest major currency in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2025, a sobering headline that should be read alongside the context: the 2024 FX reform was a deliberate policy choice to move from a fixed, overvalued regime to a market-based one. The birr’s sharp depreciation was the price of that liberalization. What matters now is whether the resulting competitive positioning for exports, rising formal remittance inflows (up 36.5% to $4.6B in H1 2025/26), and growing investor confidence can outweigh the cost-of-living pressures the weak currency imposes on households. The data is mixed, the story is still being written.
Zenith Bank acquires Kenya’s Paramount Bank for $7.7M, enters East Africa
Nigerian financial giant Zenith Bank has completed a 100% acquisition of Kenya’s Paramount Bank for $7.7 million (1 billion Kenyan shillings), officially entering the East African market. The deal received approval from both the Central Bank of Kenya, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Kenya Competition Authority, the latter with a condition requiring the bank to retain 78 Paramount Bank employees for at least one year. For Ethiopia-watchers, the move signals continued deepening of financial sector integration across the region, and raises a quiet question: as foreign banks expand their East African footprints, when does that competition reach Ethiopia’s increasingly liberalized banking sector?
Somalia kicks off its first offshore oil drilling with a Turkish vessel
A Turkish-flagged drilling ship, Chagri Bay, docked in Mogadishu to begin Somalia’s first offshore oil drilling project, operating under a hydrocarbon development agreement signed in 2024 that grants Turkey’s state-owned oil company exploration rights in three offshore blocks totaling 15,000 square kilometers. A ceremony at Mogadishu port was attended by Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. If successful, the project would mark Somalia’s first offshore oil production and Turkey’s first deep-sea drilling operation beyond its territorial waters, a significant step for regional energy geopolitics in the Horn of Africa.
Continuing story, Middle East war & oil markets
A six-week war between the US-Israel alliance and Iran began on February 28, 2026, triggered by strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader. What followed reshaped global oil markets and sent shockwaves through Ethiopia’s fuel supply. Here’s where things stand as of this Monday morning.
A two-week ceasefire, fragile and contested
On April 8, President Trump announced a two-week suspension of military strikes on Iran, brokered by Pakistan with Chinese support. Iran agreed and declared it would allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the pause. Oil markets responded immediately, WTI crude dropped 18% to $92.60/barrel and Brent fell 6% to $103.40. But the ceasefire began fracturing almost immediately: Israel continued heavy strikes on Lebanon, killing over 350 people on the first day alone, asserting the deal did not cover Hezbollah. Iran insisted Lebanon was included, citing Pakistan’s original announcement. The Strait of Hormuz remained only partially open.
Islamabad talks collapse after 21 hours
US Vice President JD Vance led a delegation including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad on April 11 for direct US-Iran talks, the highest-level US-Iran meeting since 1979. After 21 hours of negotiations, Vance left without a deal. The US demanded a verifiable, complete end to Iran’s nuclear weapons capability. Iran sought control of the Strait of Hormuz, war reparations, a regional ceasefire including Lebanon, and international recognition of Iranian sovereignty. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the US failed to gain Iran’s trust. Pakistan called on both sides to hold the ceasefire; Iran’s foreign ministry said talks ended with major gaps.
Where it stands this Monday, a naval blockade begins
As of this morning, Trump declared the ceasefire is “holding well” but announced that at 10am ET Monday, the US military will begin a full maritime blockade on all traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has vowed to retaliate. Brent crude has climbed back above $95/barrel, gaining over 31% since the war began. For Ethiopia, which imports nearly all its fuel, the implications are direct: elevated global oil prices mean continued pressure on fuel costs, already a central driver of the fuel shortage crisis the country has been managing for weeks. The Hormuz situation is not background noise for Addis. It is a front-page story.
Deep dive this week
The Data Problem: Why no one really knows what’s happening in Ethiopia’s economy
This week’s in-depth piece from StockMarket.et cuts to something structural: Ethiopia’s economy is growing, its capital markets are formalizing, and investor interest is rising, but the information infrastructure to support all of this has not kept pace. Exchange rate data is fragmented across institutions and informal channels. Macroeconomic figures arrive months late. Corporate disclosures vary in format and depth. At the sector level, banking performance, insurance exposure, and microfinance data are hard to compare across institutions.
The result is a system where information is unevenly distributed, insiders and regulators have a clearer picture; everyone else works with approximations. The piece argues that this is not an inconvenience. It is a structural constraint on how capital flows, how risk is priced, and how trust is built.
The emerging Ethiopian Financial Data Hub (EFDH) is one attempt to address the gap, aggregating exchange rates, macroeconomic indicators, T-bill auction data, interbank market activity, and policy context into a centralized platform. Whether such initiatives can reduce the information asymmetry enough to matter for real investment decisions is the underlying question. The article makes the case that information infrastructure, not just capital or institutions, is what turns a growing economy into a functioning market.
Read the full piece on StockMarket.et →
That’s your Monday Breakfast Stories today. Ethiopia’s economy is moving fast on multiple fronts, digital finance is deepening, legal credibility is growing, and global headwinds are very real. Keep your coffee strong and your tabs open.
See you next Monday. ☕
