Ethiopia’s 2024 ban on fossil-fuel vehicle imports has triggered a sharp rise in electric vehicle adoption. Backed by hydropower and competitive Chinese EV pricing, the country is reshaping its transport market.

The National Bank of Ethiopia’s new directive relaxes long-standing FX restrictions, allowing exporters full retention of earnings, expanding access for businesses and individuals, and simplifying cross-border payments. These measures are expected to boost liquidity, strengthen market confidence, and create a more predictable environment for trade, investment, and digital commerce.

The 2026 Ethiopia–Brazil Economic Cooperation Forum convened more than 130 Brazilian companies and delegates in Addis Ababa—one of the largest Brazilian business missions to the Horn of Africa to date. Hosted at the Skylight Hotel, the forum underscored the growing strategic alignment between the two countries in agriculture, logistics, energy, and industrial development.

Afreximbank’s recent break with Fitch Ratings highlights a broader problem in how African institutions are judged by global credit-rating models. The methodologies often understate regional strengths and overlook ongoing reforms—a pattern Ethiopia has also faced in its own sovereign ratings. The episode reinforces a simple point: Africa must improve fundamentals, but it must also ensure that the global system evaluating those fundamentals reflects African realities.

The Ethio–Japan Business Forum will be held on January 13, 2026, at Skylight Hotel, Addis Ababa. The forum serves as a high-level platform to strengthen economic cooperation between Ethiopia and Japan, bringing together policymakers, investors, business leaders, and development partners.

A high-level Turkish trade delegation is scheduled to arrive in Addis Ababa this week to explore expanded commercial cooperation with Ethiopia

Ethiopia and China have signed a new agreement allowing permanent export of Ethiopian cassava to the Chinese market. The deal sets the required phytosanitary and quality standards and opens a major opportunity for farmers, processors, and platforms like OmoAddis to supply one of the world’s largest cassava importers.

Ethiopia issues its first gas retail license to a foreign–Ethiopian joint venture under Directive No. 1082/2025, opening the fuel retail market to foreign investors. Ethio Natural Gas Marketing and Distribution PLC will distribute locally produced LNG, marking a major step in Ethiopia’s trade liberalization and energy sector reform.

The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority’s November 2025 guidance underscores that the securities industry can be exploited both to launder illicit funds and to generate illicit profits through activities such as market manipulation and insider trading. Despite this risk, suspicious transaction reports (STRs) from the sector have historically been relatively low. To address this gap, the guideline mandates a documented risk‑based approach: market intermediaries must identify money‑laundering risks by customer type, product and transaction, review these assessments regularly and focus attention on higher‑risk relationships.