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The shareholders of Omo Microfinance voted to transform their 25-year old establishment into a conventional bank. It will be called Omo Bank. The management of the microfinance institution has already submitted a request for a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia. Established with an initial capital of less than a million Birr in the […]

South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways start a discussion to create a pan-African airline group. The two aviation companies have signed a cooperation agreement with a long-term view to establishing the group in a bid to stay competitive in the African aviation market, where they are a leading player along with Ethiopian Airlines, the

Ethiopia called for expression of interest to award the second telecom license, launching the tender process to award an operator willing to invest in the Horn of African country. The first license was awarded to the Safricom-led Global Consortium for an offer of 850 million dollars. The only other bidder was MTN, whose bid rejected

Hospitality establishments in Addis Ababa and regional towns report an increase in room occupancy rates as they slightly recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which brought the tourism sector to a standstill. Currently, the occupancy rate of hotels in the capital, excluding those shut down by authorities, spans between 30 percent and 40

Transactions facilitated through ethio telecom’s new mobile money platform, Telebirr, surpasses one billion Birr, the Operator said. Launched four months ago, close to 10 million people have been registered to use the mobile money thus far, higher than any other fintech firms and banks providing similar services. CBE-Birr, Hellocash, M-Birr and E-Birr have been the

Ratings agency S&P Global downgraded Ethiopia’s sovereign rating to ‘CCC+’ from ‘B-‘ on Friday, portraying the increasing pressure on the availability of external funding. Heightened political instability due to the ongoing war in north Ethiopia and delays to debt restructuring are cited as major reasons for the downgrading. S&P expects the country’s domestic markets to

Almost 59 million dollars in airline funds are being blocked from repatriation in Ethiopia, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The fund belongs to international airlines, including Kenyan Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Emirates Airways. “Resolving this quickly is critical for airlines to continue providing connectivity needed to sustain jobs and energize economies as

Ramis edges closer to become the third interest-free bank in Ethiopia. With a paid-up capital of 850 million Br, Zamzam Bank was the first full-fledged interest-free bank service provider in Ethiopia. It was followed by Hijra, which joined the financial sector with a paid-up capital of 700 million Br. Ramis has collected 724 million Br

A quintal of sesame receives an offer of 6,348 Br at the floor of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange on September 21, 2021, the highest in almost two years. The price spike occurred as the Exchange entered to the slack season, which usually see a fall in production, though it is partly caused by the political

The 6.3 billion Birr worth Modjo-Batu 92km express road becomes operational. Drivers of automobiles passing through the road are expected to pay a fee of 0.77 Birr a kilometre, it is 1.05 Br in case of heavy trucks. It is the third express road for the country, next to Addis-Adama and Dire Dawa Dewale projects.