Business

Mobile money could add $5.3 billion to Ethiopia’s GDP

Monday 3 July, 2023 | Central Insights | Mobile for Development Today GSMA launched its new report Mobile Money in Ethiopia: Advancing financial inclusion and driving growth. The much-anticipated liberalization of the telecoms market is presenting an opportunity to advance economic development in the country, including the financial inclusion of underserved populations via mobile money.   In this study, we

July 3, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Ethiopia’s Request to Join BRICS is a Sign of Desperation, Not of Strategy

Yonas Biru, PhD Ethiopian intellectuals are half tribalized and half hermitized. They are driven by the emotional diktats of centuries past and Gadda this, Axum that, and Lalibela ኡኡ cacophony. They are, therefore, unfit to comprehend the nation’s geo-political challenges and opportunities. Ethiopia’s application to join BRICS is partially attributable to this phenomenon. Let me

July 1, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Biden Administration Lifts Human Rights Violations Designation for Ethiopia: Unblocking Major IMF Program

According to an internal U.S. Treasury Department notification, the Biden administration has informed Congress that Ethiopia is no longer engaging in a “pattern of gross violations of human rights.” This decision will allow the U.S. and international economic aid to resume being sent to Ethiopia. The move comes as Washington seeks to improve its relationship

June 29, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Telecom Industry Veteran Wim Vanhelleputte to Lead Safaricom Ethiopia as New CEO

Safaricom PLC has announced the selection of Wim Vanhelleputte as the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC, effective from September 1, 2023. According to the company’s social media posts, Wim brings a wealth of leadership experience and extensive industry knowledge, having dedicated over 25 years to the telecommunications sector across various

June 28, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Ethio Telecom, Tecno Mobile Sign a Strategic Partnership Towards Increasing Smartphone Penetration 

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA June 23, 2023 – Ethio Telecom, TECNO Mobile Limited, and Transsion Manufacturing PLC today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a tripartite strategic partnership agreement to combine expertise and resources towards increasing smartphone penetration and affordability, and thereby improve 4G and 5G adoption/usage in Ethiopia.  Ethio Telecom signed a strategic partnership memorandum

June 24, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Startup of the Year Kubik Raises $3.34M Seed to Scale Sustainable Building Tech in First Market

Circular economy and climate tech startup, Kubik, brings multinational investors on its journey to build a livable world for all. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – June 23, 2023 – Kubik, a pioneering startup specializing in the transformation of hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable, low-carbon building materials, announced today the successful completion of the initial milestone in

June 24, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Visa Launches New Initiatives to Support Fintech Start-ups and Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia

Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa Andrew Torre emphasizes Visa’s commitment to expanding digital payments in Ethiopia by working closely with government, the financial ecosystem and SMBs Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – June 19, 2023 – Visa (NYSE: V) has reinforced its commitment to expanding digital payments in Ethiopia by announcing

June 20, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Bridging the Gap: Google Bard Extends Its Reach to Ethiopia, Outshining ChatGPT

Google’s Bard AI is now available in Ethiopia without a VPN By: Yinebeb Bahru  Google Bard is Google’s new chatbot AI that uses its LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) technology. It works like other AI chatbots such as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s the New Bing AI chatbot. But it has an edge: it

May 12, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

Google releases offline Amharic language package

By: Yinebeb Bahru In Today’s digitalized world, it is easy to translate between two languages thanks to the internet. However, this is not the case for people living in areas with costly and poor internet connectivity, such as Ethiopia. In January 2021, only 20% of Ethiopians had internet access. Most of those who did had

April 29, 2023 • By Addis Insight

Business

International Sanction on Ethiopia is Good for the Poor

Yonas Biru, PhD As someone who has written several articles promoting international sanctions against the Abiy government, I feel obliged to clarify misunderstandings and misconceptions that people have about the topic. Let me start with some disclaimers and background information to give readers context. First, the sanction I am championing does not include humanitarian aid.

April 17, 2023 • By Addis Insight