ETHIOPIA: Monk Killed & more – 26th June 2025

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 26th of June twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

A monk at the Zequala Monastery in the East Shewa Zone of the Oromia region in central Ethiopia was shot and killed. Monks say members of the Oromo Liberation Army (or OLA) are responsible for the attack, carried out on Friday the 20th.

The OLA, on the other hand, says it had nothing to do with the attack and that its militants are stationed far away from the monastery. The OLA added that this is a coordinated government disinformation campaign to create conflict and disputes between rebel groups of different ethnic backgrounds.

Meanwhile, the auditing company MSE Audit Service revealed a report on the National Bank, carried out a few days ago, showing that the Bank has lost over ten billion birr, which is around seventy million US dollars. The audit was conducted as part of an agreement between the Ethiopian government and the International Monetary Fund.

The document cited reasons for the losses, including loans that the Bank gave to the government that it hasn’t paid back and the decision to have market forces determine the value of the country’s currency, which severely diluted the Birr’s value.

The report also said that around the time when the decision to float the Birr was made, the Bank borrowed over two hundred billion birr (over a billion US dollars) combined from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,

The Ethiopian Electric Power also released a report recently, which several institutions, including the Ethiopian Electric Power and the Danish Embassy, collaborated on, but residents are not happy with the results. According to the report, electric bills will increase by at least four hundred percent by twenty twenty-eight.

Even though the jump is huge, those who prepared the report say the increase will help the Ethiopian Electric Power, which is the main producer of electric power, to cover its costs. Four hundred percent sounds like a very huge number, but the report says that considering inflation and how low electric bills used to be in the country, the hike is moderate and fair. The report did admit that the increase will put pressure on low-income households and drive down demand.

On another note, Taye Atske-Selassie, Ethiopia’s President, and Brook Taye, the CEO of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, were in Angola early this week to attend the America-Africa Business Forum, which lasted four days, ending on Wednesday the 25th. During the Forum, Brook signed an agreement with US International Finance Partners to work together to build a hotel in Ethiopia.

The deal, worth two hundred and fifty million US dollars, is expected to contribute to Ethiopia’s hospitality sector. President Taye called on American companies to invest in the country’s agriculture sector

Speaking of foreign investment, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced that the government will soon sign an agreement with Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian billionaire who is also the wealthiest person in Africa, to build a fertilizer production plant.

Dangote is set to spend about three billion US dollars on the fertilizer plant, which is planned to be built in Gode, in the Somali region in southeastern Ethiopia. s.

There are long queues at gas stations in the capital because residents are worried that the government is going to hike gas prices by introducing a 15% value-added tax on top of steadily rising prices. Retailers are withholding supply because they’re also expecting prices to go up and want to take advantage.

However, the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration said over the weekend that social media has misled the people and that there are no plans to increase gas prices. It additionally explained that it has rolled back subsidies and will no longer help shoulder the burden of increased prices, meaning that the market will determine them. It further clarified that it won’t raise prices at the beginning of every other month as it used to do.

Going back to banks for a bit, as private bank Geda wants to list its shares on the country’s stock exchange and it issued a document including important information about the bank, calling the public to invest in it.

However, this document also contains information about the risks the bank might face going forward, which might drive the prices of shares down. The bank said the main risk it has identified has to do with the entry of foreign banks into the Ethiopian market. It explained that foreign banks have more resources, better tech and can offer lower interest rates, which could result in the bank losing out on customers and being forced to offer competitive interest rates, narrowing its profit margins. The Bank is also worried that these foreign banks can take away trained professionals by offering better pay and benefits.

Even though the government opened the banking sector to foreign investors around six months ago, the details weren’t sorted out so foreign banks couldn’t enter the market yet.

However, on Wednesday the 25th, the National Bank passed a new set of rules collectively which have officially opened the gates to foreign banks and investors to open offices in Ethiopia and to buy shares in banks in the country. The National Bank said in its statement on Wednesday that foreign banks and investors can now start submitting their requests to engage in Ethiopia’s banking sector

In environmental news, the government recently outlawed the manufacturing of single-use plastic bags aiming to combat pollution. Manufacturers, however, are angry. Their union said this past week that they haven’t been given enough time to adjust to these changes and need five years to transition to producing more environmentally friendly products.

The bill outlawing plastic manufacturing grants a six-month grace period to the manufacturers to cease producing plastics but they say they’re being forced to close factories they’ve spent a lot of time and money building.

News outlets asked the Ministry of Industry about the manufacturers’ demands and the Ministry said it will help them transition to producing environmentally friendly products but will go forward with its commitment to combat pollution.

Paper bag manufacturers, on the other hand, say they’re seeing a surge in demand following the bill’s approval.

Next up, let’s take a look at housing. Ethiopia is just two spots away from dead last in a country ranking about housing affordability. The ranking was based on how much of their income people are paying for housing. People in Ethiopia use a very significant portion of their earnings for housing.

You’ll be surprised to hear, however, that home prices are declining and demand is waning. Experts say real estate developers overestimated the demand for high-end apartments and villas and now there are only a few people who can afford these houses, forcing developers to hold on to the units they’ve developed or sell them at a lower-than-expected price.

The Abrehot Library in Addis Ababa, the largest in the country, said it won’t be open for regular services starting from the 23rd of June until the 8th of July. The Library explained that it has to close temporarily because it will be one of the venues where the national university entrance exam will be administered.

And for our final update, an obituary. Alberto Varnero, a pioneer in Ethiopia’s construction sector who has been active since the nineteen forties, passed away on Friday the 20th at eighty-three. He has worked on some of the most notable buildings in Addis Ababa and beyond, including the headquarters of the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa, the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and Addis’ municipal building.

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

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