The Report Card
Grading Ethiopia's Reform Year
Executive summary
What this brief covers.
InfoPlate's Ethiopian year 2018 review finds that reform architecture advanced faster than delivery. Drawing on 24 briefs, this special edition assesses banking liberalization, capital markets, trade, remittances, labour, mining, energy access, and the implementation tests that will define Ethiopian year 2019.
National Bank of Ethiopia; Ethiopian Securities Exchange; World Bank; Ethiopian Diaspora Service; AfCFTA Secretariat; ILO; UNFCCC; Allied Gold Corporation
See the full source notes and data-period qualifications in the PDFKey findings
The evidence behind the headline.
Publication-specific findings from the full brief. Claims and source details can be checked in the PDF below.
Is Ethiopia's reform architecture delivering?
The legal and institutional architecture progressed, but implementation remains mixed. The Ethiopian Securities Exchange had 13 registered companies and only six trading at the period reviewed, while no foreign bank held a full Ethiopian operating license.
Do strong capital flows translate into broad gains?
Formal diaspora remittances reached $7.17 billion in FY2024/25, yet the edition estimates that formal channels captured only a portion of total flows. Labour-market participation and new entrants also outpaced the ability of formal employment to absorb them.
What does a stalled mining deal reveal?
Zijin Gold's planned acquisition of Allied Gold was terminated after regulatory approval did not arrive by the deal's deadline. A smaller strategic investment proceeded, while construction at the Ethiopian Kurmuk project continued. The edition distinguishes counterparty and regulatory risk from the underlying asset's progress.
Decision relevance
What to watch next.
The full brief distinguishes observed signals from InfoPlate's interpretation. These are forward tests, not predictions of a completed outcome.
- Foreign bank licensing and the exchange's registered-to-trading gap
- Operational payment and standards infrastructure behind AfCFTA trade
- Whether the sugar and wider SOE process delivers a completed transaction
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Suggested citation
Tamene, Edosa. “The Report Card.” InfoPlate Media and Consulting, September 10, 2026.
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