Awash Insurance S.C. (AIC) has announced a remarkable financial performance for the 2024/25 fiscal year, solidifying its position as the leading private insurance company in Ethiopia by a wide margin. The company reported collecting premiums exceeding 4.5 billion birr across its general, life, and health insurance sectors, marking a significant growth in revenue and market share.

According to the company’s latest report, AIC generated more than 3.74 billion birr in gross premiums from its general insurance operations, reflecting a 44% increase compared to the previous fiscal year. The life and health insurance segment also showed robust growth, with premiums rising by 48% to over 656 million birr. In addition, the Sharia-compliant Salam Takaful Insurance Service, managed by Awash Insurance, achieved an impressive 120% growth, collecting premiums exceeding 150 million birr.

The company’s total premium collection surpassed 4.5 billion birr, representing a 46% increase over the prior year and maintaining its leadership position among 17 private insurance firms in the Ethiopian market. This performance underscores AIC’s dominance and its ability to expand its customer base and product offerings amid a competitive landscape.

In terms of claims, AIC paid out over 1.5 billion birr in compensation during the fiscal year, with vehicle insurance claims accounting for more than 930 million birr. The company’s extensive network includes over 300 sales agents, serving more than 100,000 customers with efficient and reliable insurance services nationwide.

AIC’s commitment to innovation and community-oriented services was further demonstrated by the launch of crop insurance products aimed at supporting Ethiopia’s agricultural sector. This initiative seeks to protect smallholder farmers from natural disasters and climate-related risks, reflecting the company’s broader role in contributing to economic resilience and social welfare.

Financially, the company’s paid-up capital reached 2.6 billion birr by June 30, 2025, while total assets exceeded 10.2 billion birr. AIC has invested heavily in modern information technology systems to enhance service delivery, including the development of new digital platforms designed to make insurance products more accessible and convenient for customers.

Beyond its commercial success, Awash Insurance has actively engaged in social, economic, and environmental initiatives, providing financial, material, and professional support to various government agencies and non-governmental organizations. This reinforces the company’s position as a responsible corporate citizen contributing to Ethiopia’s sustainable development.

AIC’s recent achievements build on its longstanding reputation as a pioneer in Ethiopia’s insurance sector. Established as one of the first private insurers following the liberalization of the financial sector, the company has steadily expanded its market share and product portfolio. Its strategic vision and dynamic leadership have been key drivers of its sustained growth and resilience in a challenging economic environment.

With its record-breaking premium collections, growing capital base, and innovative product offerings, Awash Insurance continues to set the benchmark for private insurance companies in Ethiopia. As the sector evolves, AIC’s focus on customer-centric services and technological advancement positions it well to maintain its leadership and contribute meaningfully to the country’s financial sector development.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has transitioned to conventional monetary policy instruments to combat inflationary pressures, moving away from its long-standing traditional framework.

The central bank has reaffirmed its commitment to a disciplined and multifaceted monetary policy that utilizes market-based tools to reduce inflation to single digits while promoting economic recovery and external stability. It intends to achieve this by carefully managing the money supply through the banking sector.

During its third meeting on Monday, June 30, the NBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) evaluated recent economic trends, including inflation, production, credit growth, fiscal policy, and external trade, before recommending policy measures for board approval.

According to the MPC’s statement, broad money supply increased by 23.3% as of June 2025, while bank credit grew by 18.1%. Reserve money experienced significant growth, driven by foreign exchange accumulation from gold exports. However, lending caps have helped mitigate excessive credit growth.

On the fiscal side, the government has reduced its deficit by eliminating central bank borrowing in the 2024/25 fiscal year, thereby supporting the NBE’s monetary tightening efforts. This fiscal discipline is anticipated to help stabilize prices and sustain economic growth.

The central bank’s strategy highlights its focus on balancing inflation control with measures to ensure ongoing economic recovery and external sector stability.

Short-term interest rates remain above the NBE’s policy rate (NBR) of 15%, with 91-day Treasury bill yields reaching 17.7% in May 2025.

 The interbank rate stood at 17.5%, remaining within the NBE’s target corridor. While the banking sector remains stable, some banks are encountering liquidity challenges, which are being addressed through the interbank market and the NBE’s Standing Lending Facility.

During this period, the NBE has maintained its key policy rate at 15%, with no changes to deposit, lending, or reserve requirement rates. Additionally, the central bank has announced the removal of the mandatory 20% Treasury bond purchase requirement for loan disbursements, a measure initially imposed in late 2022.

The 18% cap on bank credit growth will remain in effect until the next MPC meeting in September 2025, as previously communicated. The MPC has reiterated that the current tight monetary policy stance will continue until inflation, currently above 14%, is reduced to single digits.

To uphold this restrictive approach, the NBE has reaffirmed its commitment to utilizing a range of monetary policy tools rather than relying on direct intervention for monetary control.

The NBE announced that the Committee has agreed that the revision of credit growth caps is anticipated by September 2025, contingent upon sustained progress in controlling inflation. Importantly, this adjustment will not result in any unintended easing of monetary policy.

The NBE emphasized its commitment to utilizing a comprehensive array of market-based monetary policy tools to uphold stability.

These tools include the central bank’s policy rate, Open Market Operations (OMOs), foreign exchange interventions, and adjustments to reserve requirements.

The NBE indicated that these measures can be implemented individually or in combination, as necessary, in response to inflationary trends and monetary conditions.

A year ago, the NBE introduced its first-ever policy rate to facilitate a transition toward an interest rate-based monetary policy framework. In its latest policy statement released on July 9, 2024, the NBE reaffirmed that the NBR, currently set at 15%, will be the primary tool for signaling its policy stance and influencing broader monetary and credit conditions.

The statement further clarified that the NBR will be adjusted—either increased or decreased—based on prevailing inflationary pressures and monetary conditions, ensuring a responsive and flexible approach to economic management.

Additionally, a few months ago, the central bank issued a revised draft directive on reserve requirements to align with international standards.

This update aims to ensure that banks maintain sufficient liquidity to meet their obligations while also providing the National Bank with a mechanism to manage the money supply and control inflation.

The directive seeks to strengthen monetary policy and prudential regulation by introducing partial reserve averaging and a lagged maintenance period.

These changes are expected to enhance the efficiency of the interbank market and provide banks with greater flexibility in managing liquidity.

Moreover, to reinforce financial stability, the directive consolidates separate reserve and payment accounts into a single payment and settlement account.

Under the new directive, banks are required to hold at least 5% of their reserve base in their NBE payment and settlement account daily, while maintaining a monthly average reserve requirement of 7% of their deposit liabilities.

Recently, NBE officials announced plans to introduce new monetary instruments to maintain a firm policy stance, even as the central bank prepares to lift the credit cap in September and discontinue mandatory bond purchases by banks.

In a landmark move to strengthen the resilience of Ethiopian agriculture, the Ethiopian Agricultural Insurance Consortium (AICE) was officially launched, pledging to extend insurance coverage to 3 million smallholder farmers by 2026. This initiative aims to shield farmers from climate-related risks and foster a more investment-friendly agricultural sector.

The consortium unites five leading Ethiopian insurance companies— Nyala Insurance, Africa Insurance, Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, Nile Insurance, and Oromia Insurance—with technical support from Pula Advisors, a global insurtech firm specializing in agricultural insurance solutions. Together, they form a unified platform to collaborate with government agencies, donors, and development partners to transform Ethiopia’s agricultural insurance landscape.

Agriculture accounts for roughly one-third of Ethiopia’s GDP and employs about 85% of the population, yet over 95% of smallholder farmers currently lack formal crop insurance. Recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, pests, and diseases frequently devastate harvests, forcing families to sell assets, deplete savings, or depend on humanitarian aid. The AICE initiative seeks to break this cycle by scaling affordable, technology-driven insurance products that stabilize farmers’ incomes, unlock credit access, and encourage the adoption of productivity-enhancing inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers.

The consortium’s first product, “B-crop,” is an environmental index insurance solution designed to protect farmers against systemic hazards like drought, excessive rainfall, pests, and diseases. This product has already been piloted successfully across three regions and more than 200 districts, demonstrating its adaptability to Ethiopia’s diverse agricultural conditions.

AICE’s insurance model is integrated with the government’s Product Input Voucher System (IVS), which helps reduce premiums through risk pooling and government subsidies, making coverage more affordable for farmers. Currently, this model covers over 10 million farmers across more than 200 woredas (districts) at a subsidized cost of approximately 200 birr per farmer.

To address the challenge of limited awareness, the consortium is investing in extensive farmer education programs, including training sessions, nationwide roadshows, SMS and interactive voice response (IVR) messaging, and collaboration with government extension agents to incorporate insurance education into existing advisory services.

Technological innovation is central to the consortium’s approach. Leveraging Pula Advisors’ digital tools such as Mavuno, an AI-powered data collection platform, and the Pula Insurance Engine (PIE) for intelligent product design and policy management, AICE aims to deliver efficient, data-driven insurance services that are responsive to farmers’ needs.

The Ethiopian government has expressed strong support for the consortium. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Bank of Ethiopia, and other stakeholders participated in the launch event, underscoring the importance of financial inclusion and sustainable rural development. The government has also established a Rural Financial Services Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate efforts to expand access to agricultural finance and insurance nationwide.

Over recent years, Pula Advisors, in partnership with the Agricultural Transformation Institute and development partners such as the World Food Programme and KfW, has helped nearly one million Ethiopian farmers gain insurance coverage. The consortium builds on this momentum to scale solutions and improve the sector’s technical capacity.

Safaricom Ethiopia has raised concerns over the current pricing structure of mobile data services, warning that selling data below cost is unsustainable and threatens the long-term viability of the telecom sector in the country. The company highlighted that Ethiopia’s average mobile data prices are approximately three times lower than the African average, a disparity that, while driving rapid customer growth, poses serious challenges for future investment and infrastructure expansion.

Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, emphasized the urgent need for “price rationalization,” particularly regarding heavily discounted large data packages. He explained that while a single gigabyte of data costs about 35 birr, purchasing a 200-gigabyte package reduces the price per gigabyte by six times, resulting in discounts of 80 to 90 percent. This pricing imbalance, Vanhelleputte noted, is unfair to customers who buy smaller data packages and undermines the company’s ability to generate profits necessary for expanding network infrastructure.

Safaricom Ethiopia estimates that the telecom industry requires an additional investment of 500 billion birr over the next three years to significantly enhance network coverage and quality. Such investment would be difficult to sustain without adjustments to the current pricing model.

Despite these challenges, Safaricom recently celebrated a major milestone, announcing that it has reached 10 million active customers within a 90-day period—an impressive feat achieved less than four years after receiving its operating license. The company likened this customer base to the population size of Belgium, underscoring the rapid adoption of its services.

Since its market entry, Safaricom has invested over 300 billion birr (more than US$2.5 billion) in infrastructure development. The company currently operates more than 3,000 telecom towers, covering over half of Ethiopia’s population. With an average daily addition of 30,000 new customers, Safaricom attributes its growth to customer confidence in its fast and reliable mobile and voice services.

Data usage among Safaricom customers is notably high, with nearly 75 percent of users accessing data services monthly and consuming an average of over 6 gigabytes each—more than 50 percent above the African continental average.

The company employs over 900 staff members, 97 percent of whom are Ethiopian nationals. This local workforce is central to Safaricom’s commitment to building a telecom ecosystem “by Ethiopians for Ethiopia.”

Wim Vanhelleputte expressed the company’s goal to achieve financial profitability within the next 6 to 12 months. Reaching this milestone would enable Safaricom Ethiopia to allocate future funds primarily toward network expansion rather than covering operational start-up costs.

Safaricom plans to double its network footprint over the next three years, increasing the number of live towers from 3,100 to more than 6,000 by December 2028. This expansion aims to extend internet, voice, and financial services coverage to 80 to 90 percent of the population, including both urban centers and rural areas.

The company acknowledged the initial challenges faced in navigating Ethiopia’s newly liberalized telecom market but stressed that healthy competition benefits the industry and consumers alike. Vanhelleputte remarked, “Competition is not a zero-sum game. In a market economy, it’s about growing the market.” He highlighted the complementary roles of Safaricom and Ethio Telecom in expanding customer numbers and overall market size.

Addressing concerns about network availability in conflict-affected regions, Safaricom noted improvements in security over the past 6 to 12 months. The company has launched services in areas such as Dessie and Kombolcha and plans to expand coverage to Gondar and Bahir Dar in the near future.