Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 18th of December twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

Let’s kick off this edition with internal affairs, as the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice opposition party is hitting back at critics that say the ruling party, Prosperity, is influencing it, citing excessive cooperation. In a press conference it held on Tuesday the 16th, the party said it has its own ideology and programs that give it a separate identity as a political party.

It added that it’s not going to stop trying to advance national interests out of fear that it will be associated with Prosperity. Still, it explained that cooperation with the ruling party has allowed it to promote its agenda, especially in education: one of the party’s leaders, Berhanu Nega, is the Minister of Education and has introduced sweeping reforms.

Speaking of education, in a feature article in English, local journalist Mahlet Mehdi wrote about the Addis Ababa Education Bureau’s plan to boost national university entrance exam scores.

So, now, high school seniors have classes before normal lessons start (at 7am, before their regular lesson at 8:30 am) and then classes after school and on top of that on weekends.

In the article, teachers and academics weigh in on the matter, explaining that even though the programs are well-intentioned, they don’t appreciate how the bureau simply imposed them without much consultation with parents and teachers. The plan to give students more lessons and classes has also received little media attention, at least until now.

Check out the full piece with the link in the show notes.

Meanwhile, The National Lottery Administration, Ethiopia’s regulator of chance-based games and lotteries, announced on Monday the 15th that it has banned sports betting completely, revoking the licenses of several service providers. The administration said it made the decision after investigating and finding that companies were engaging in illegal activities and violating conditions included in their licensing agreements, adding that the companies’ actions posed a threat to national security.

The regulator also said companies must stop taking bets immediately and preserve financial and user information, warning them that failure to do so could result in criminal liability.

Recall that the country banned betting kiosks a while back and recently detained individuals in the sports betting business after the country’s intelligence service said it found that they were evading taxes, laundering money, and financing terrorists.

In diplomatic news, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm welcome from his counterpart PM Abiy Ahmed as he arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday the 16th. On Wednesday the 17th, Modi addressed Ethiopia’s Parliament in a joint session of both the House of Federation and the House of Peoples’ Representatives.

In his speech, Modi announced that India and Ethiopia have decided to push their bilateral relations a step further, officially declaring that they consider their relations a strategic partnership which will feature increased cooperation in many fields including technology, health, defense and trade. Modi also revealed that India would double the number of scholarships awarded to Ethiopians, while PM Abiy awarded Modi the Great Honour Nishan of Ethiopia, the highest civilian award in the country.

Up next, the newspaper Reporter said on Wednesday the 17th that, according to its sources, even though the Capital Market Authority ordered share companies to register their shares, fewer than half have done so.

An official at the authority said about sixty companies have filed for registration so far. He said that the authority will continue to receive registration requests but will fine companies, and the fines will increase as companies wait longer to register.

The board and executives of the Development Bank of Ethiopia, a state-owned financial institution that provides loans for priority development projects, have recently been disagreeing with the executive managers over several matters, including the appointment of senior management personnel. According to reports, their quarrels have slowed down the bank’s operations and they couldn’t settle their differences even after a talk that the National Bank’s governor and another senior government official mediated.

That’s why the Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, which also controls the bank, decided to appoint a new president to the Development Bank, Esayas Kassa, and a new board chairman, Brook Taye, who is also the CEO of Ethiopian Investment Holdings. The new appointees have previously worked together in the establishment of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority.

More news in finance as the National Bank revealed in a draft strategy document that the country lost over one point three billion birr, which is over eight million US dollars, to digital fraud in twenty twenty-four alone.

The draft document contains the bank’s plan to expand digital banking over the next five years and it says that even though there are over a hundred and thirty million bank accounts eligible for digital banking, just fifteen percent are used for digital transactions. It also says the adoption rate lags far behind several African countries and that the public’s lack of knowledge about digital finance and banking has made them vulnerable to fraud and led them to distrust the bank.

On that note about strategies, the Environmental Protection Authority said that it has prepared one to make sure that residents comply with rules prohibiting the use of thin single-use plastic bags, which will take effect in a little over a month.

The authority said producing and importing these bags will also be banned and that it has been creating awareness among the public about the law and encouraging people to start using reusable bags.

Plastic manufacturers are not happy with the new law and want the ban starting date to be postponed, explaining that they’ve made significant investments in importing plastic manufacturing machinery and that they couldn’t transition to producing environmentally friendly materials in such a short amount of time.

The crackdown on social media influencers, mainly TikTokers, continued this week, as the Addis Ababa Police said on Wednesday the 17th that it detained four. Police said detainees were making content that violated Ethiopians’ cultural and moral values. One of the detainees reportedly posted content disrespecting the teaching profession, while another roamed the streets half-naked, startling people.The city police said it will not tolerate influencers who post similar content.

Recall that just last week, the Federal Police detained participants and organizers of an award show for TikTokers, saying participants wore inappropriate clothes.

In business news, the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange announced that it is preparing to add gemstones, including opal, to the list of commodities it trades. The exchange started out as a marketplace to trade just a few agricultural products, like corn, but has expanded and increased the number of products to almost thirty over the past few years.

The CEO of the exchange said his office is working with the Ministry of Mines to start trading opal. An officer from another government office that works on mines said the addition will be welcome because it helps combat illegal sales of the gemstone and benefits producers directly.

More business news as Zenith Bank, which is based in Nigeria and is one of the largest banks in Africa, said it’s looking into entering Ethiopia’s banking sector, following the nation’s decision to allow foreign banks to operate in the country.

Zenith Bank representatives were in Addis recently and they talked to government officials about their plans to enter the country’s market. One executive said the company wants to provide digital services and finance large government projects.

Closing this edition with some sports news, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa held a vote this week and picked Ethiopia as the host for next year’s African Youth Games, its fifth edition.

The fourth edition is currently underway in Luanda, Angola. Recall that Ethiopia expressed interest in hosting the twenty twenty-nine African football tournament as well.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Don’t forget to check out our new t-shirts with the link in the show notes!

Ciao!