The seventh Ethiopian general election, held amid a range of challenges and eagerly awaited by much of the public, has reached a critical historical milestone. On Monday, June 1, 2026, millions of citizens went to polling stations to cast their votes.

This highly significant national electoral process will determine the 547 members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the composition of various regional councils. Ultimately, it will decide the executive leadership that will guide Africa’s second most populous country for the next five years.

As the country stands on the eve of election day, the public mood reflects a mix of anxiety, anticipation and cautious democratic hope. The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced the completion of voter and candidate registration, signaling that the election’s administrative framework is officially ready. However, the road to this point has been far from smooth, marked by a clash between technological ambition and the harsh realities of the Horn of Africa.

Led by NEBE Chairperson Melatwork Hailu, the electoral process has served as a test of institutional resilience. From deploying a hybrid digital voter registration system to enduring severe logistical shortages, network disruptions and security challenges in some regions, the Board navigated numerous obstacles in reaching the mandatory campaign freeze known as the “quiet period.”

Civil society organizations working on elections and related issues say this election marks a bold step forward. It is the first time in modern Ethiopian history that a digital voter registration infrastructure has been implemented on such a wide scale.

While the digital transition promised greater transparency and protection against traditional ballot-box fraud, it quickly collided with Ethiopia’s technological and infrastructural realities. From network outages to complex court battles among fragmented political parties, the Election Board was forced to push through systemic vulnerabilities to deliver a credible election to the public.

A defining feature of this seventh general election is the digital voter registration system introduced by the Board for the first time, using tablets and a mobile application named Mirchaye (“My Election”). Launched in early January 2026, the system was designed to eliminate duplicate registration, reduce human error and ensure an unalterable digital record. The Election Board envisioned a future in which voters could bypass long queues and administrative bottlenecks by registering from home using their Fayda national ID data.

However, during the voter registration period, which ran from March 7 to April 22, 2026, this carefully designed blueprint collided with the country’s infrastructural reality. The Board openly acknowledged that network disruptions, loss of connectivity and other systemic hurdles prevented the system from functioning as intended.

The transition from manual paper ledgers to a centralized digital registration platform was seen as a revolutionary step for the Election Board. By moving registration online and tracking data through modern tablets at polling stations, the Board aimed to eliminate ghost voters, double registration and manual data manipulation.

In response to the early setbacks, the Election Board introduced an emergency hybrid procedure, reverting to manual paper registration in areas where the digital infrastructure collapsed under pressure. To make up for lost time due to technical disruptions and subsequent adjustments, the Board extended the voter registration period by 14 days.

Melatwork Hailu explained that although the system was achieved through great effort, it had produced remarkable results, with nearly 5.5 million citizens successfully obtaining their voter cards either through the digital portal or through tablets deployed at polling stations.

According to NEBE, a budget of more than 10.85 billion birr was allocated for the seventh general election, while the total number of registered voters reached more than 50.5 million.

Based on data released by the Board, the lion’s share of the election budget — 10.64 billion birr — was assigned directly to election implementation activities. This accounts for 98 percent of the institution’s total budget. The remaining 210.5 million birr was allocated to management and administrative expenses.

The amount set aside for this election is about 7 billion birr higher than the budget for the sixth national election held in 2021. In that election, the total budget was 3.7 billion birr.

In addition to the budget allocation, the Election Board confirmed that 50,514,155 voters were registered for the seventh general election, suggesting broad public participation.

A total of 47 political parties are taking part in the election, and 10,934 candidates have been fielded for various council seats. Despite the operational recovery, independent assessments and public commentary have pointed to several critical vulnerabilities that affected the registration process.

Civil society organizations and political actors expressed concern about structural flaws. The Election Board later explained that the disruptions were caused by frequent interruptions in the digital registration system in both urban and rural constituencies, the mistaken establishment of a small number of registration stations in legally restricted areas, instances of unverified and proxy registrations without physical presence, and a high number of stations lacking basic infrastructure for persons with disabilities.

If voter registration was a battle against network infrastructure, candidate registration became a demonstration of the rigidity of technology-driven legal systems. Ahead of the election, competing parties complained that the process was designed to exclude them. In response to allegations that hundreds of candidates had been intentionally excluded through human intervention, the Election Board said the system operates without human interference during the initial data-entry phase.

According to the Chairperson, when a candidate’s profile fails to meet specific legal requirements, the system flags the rejection automatically and returns it to the respective party’s system administrator along with a detailed explanation of the missing documents.

According to Election Board data, of the 42 registered political parties, only nine had candidates rejected, with a total of 80 individuals affected.

Election Board leaders said the strength of the current system lies in its transparency. At any time, an auditor or political stakeholder can examine the system logs. It is possible to see who logged into the system, what document was uploaded, why the system rejected it and the exact time of the action. According to the Board, no human hand is involved in that stage.

The Board also said nearly 20 candidate profiles were deleted from the system not by the Election Board, but by the parties’ own system administrators, who failed to manage their login codes properly. It said that if those parties had corrected the document errors and clicked “resubmit” before the deadline, all 80 candidates would have received their certificates.

Although the logistics proved resilient, Ethiopia’s geopolitical realities have placed limits on the democratic exercise. The Election Board said it conducted a comprehensive and dynamic security assessment across the federation to determine where a safe and credible vote could be guaranteed.

Following assessments by security institutions, independent observer groups and local administration bodies, all 38 constituencies in the Tigray region remained suspended for the seventh election.

This is because tensions between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) remain unresolved, and reports indicate that the former leadership is attempting to regain control of power, which competing parties say risks undermining the fragile 2022 peace agreement that ended the devastating civil war.

Due to volatile security conditions that pose a direct threat to voters and election workers, eight constituencies in the Amhara region were also excluded from the election cycle. The Amhara region is grappling with the Fano militia, which has seized control of much of the countryside and is engaged in widespread fighting with the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).

The Board emphasized that these exclusions do not amount to permanent disenfranchisement. Its mandate allows it to conduct delayed and localized elections as soon as security conditions stabilize and human rights conditions permit.

Conversely, the Board said that following successful security interventions, it opened polling stations and registered voters in several zones within Amhara and Oromia, as well as in Central Ethiopia, areas that had previously been restricted.

To ensure the credibility of the process, the international community has also mobilized. High-level observer delegations from the African Union and IGAD have been deployed. Led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the African Union Election Observation Mission arrived in Addis Ababa with 73 observers drawn from 37 African countries.

Similarly, the IGAD delegation, led by former Ugandan Vice President Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, deployed 26 short-term observers to monitor election-day proceedings.

As Ethiopians cast their votes, economic survival weighs heavily on their minds. The election is taking place amid what the Nordic Africa Institute has described as a “growth paradox.” Although the International Monetary Fund estimated that Ethiopia’s economy grew by about 9.2 percent in the 2024/25 fiscal year, driven by mining, construction and manufacturing, ordinary citizens are still grappling with rising public debt and severe foreign-exchange shortages.

After defaulting on a major international Eurobond, the country is now restructuring its external debt under the G20 Common Framework. While export commodities such as coffee and gold have shown recent improvement, a sharp rise in global fuel prices has placed enormous pressure on import-dependent sectors.

An economic analyst described the country as “facing an election without energy,” arguing that while the government promises stability through IMF-led reforms, “it stabilizes balances, but not necessarily production. It stabilizes creditors, but not necessarily citizens.”

Although the election outcome could be a major victory for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party, which currently holds 457 of the 547 parliamentary seats, it will face sharp criticism if it fails to deliver tangible improvements in the cost of living.

The government that emerges from the June election is expected to focus on three main priorities over the next five years: financial stabilization, transitional justice and making digital governance accessible to all citizens.

The global economy is facing a fresh test as trade, food and financial shocks spread, with developing economies expected to bear the heaviest burden, according to a new UN Trade and Development report released on May 19, 2026. The report says rising geopolitical tensions, higher energy prices and tighter financing conditions are weakening growth prospects and adding new pressure to inflation and food security.

UNCTAD projects global growth will slow from 2.9 percent in 2025 to 2.6 percent in 2026, as higher fuel costs, transport disruptions and market volatility weigh on investment and demand. Trade remains resilient for now, but the agency warns that momentum is fading as uncertainty begins to reshape supply chains and business decisions.

The report says developing economies are especially exposed because they face higher bills for fuel, food and fertilizers at the same time as they deal with currency pressure, tighter borrowing conditions and weaker investor sentiment. It warns that food security is increasingly becoming not only a price issue but also a financial stability concern, particularly for governments with limited fiscal space.

Higher energy prices are also feeding through to food inflation. UNCTAD says fertilizer costs are rising and that volatility in global food trading systems could deepen pressure on low-income countries already struggling with debt and weak public finances.

The report highlights the growing risks to financial stability, saying tighter conditions could amplify debt vulnerabilities in developing countries. It warns that renewed capital-flow pressure and higher debt-service costs could crowd out spending on health, education and social protection.

UNCTAD says renewable energy is becoming more cost-competitive and strategically important because it can reduce exposure to fossil-fuel shocks. The agency calls for stronger international cooperation, more predictable trade conditions, financial safeguards for developing economies and faster investment in affordable clean energy.

The report also places the current shock in a wider context of global economic fragility. It says geopolitical risks are now becoming the dominant source of instability, while weaker productivity growth, fragmented trade and uneven access to capital and technology are making the recovery more uneven across regions.

Ethio Telecom has urged the 45,000 verified shareholders from its first public share sale to open trading accounts with licensed brokers or investment banks as the company begins trading on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange.

Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamiru said the next step for investors is to open accounts with intermediaries licensed by the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, warning that limited public understanding of capital market procedures could slow participation in trading.

The move marks a major transition for the state-owned telecom giant, which has begun shifting from full government ownership toward public shareholding. Ethio Telecom said the first phase of the share sale attracted strong interest, with 47,377 potential investors registering and about 10.7 million shares sold, raising 3.2 billion birr.

After the sale period closed, the company worked with regulators on data cleaning, reconciliation and know-your-customer verification. It also completed dematerialization, converting paper-based ownership records into a secure digital system.

According to the company, 45,000 investors successfully passed the verification process and were confirmed as shareholders after the lot allocation was approved on 24 June 2025. Ethio Telecom said these investors now hold 10.1 million verified shares, valued at about 3 billion birr.

The company said 96 percent of registered applicants were successfully verified, while 3.4 percent failed to meet the final requirements. Among those excluded, 1,646 applicants did not attach their Fayda national ID information to their application forms.

Ethio Telecom said those applicants are not permanently excluded and may still be verified if they submit the missing information. It also said 248 applicants were found to be non-Ethiopian nationals, despite the original restriction limiting the 10 percent stake sale to Ethiopians. The company said it will refund the principal amounts and processing fees to those applicants, as well as to the 1,646 individuals who failed to provide national ID details.

Frehiwot said many investors were not yet trading their shares because they did not fully understand the process. She said shareholder participation now depends not only on Ethio Telecom but also on the wider capital market ecosystem, including brokers and investment banks.

The company said verified shareholders must now visit licensed capital market institutions to open trading accounts before they can buy or sell shares on the exchange. It added that this step is essential for the new market structure to function smoothly.

Ethio Telecom also said it will disclose its full annual performance and business results after the fiscal year ends. The report will first undergo external audit, a process expected to take about two months. The audited results are expected to be published around September on the company’s investor relations page.

That audit report will clear the way for Ethio Telecom’s first general assembly as a public company. Frehiwot said the company is discussing with the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority how to organize the meeting, given the difficulty of gathering all shareholders physically in one place.

Possible options under discussion include in-person participation, online access and proxy representation. The assembly is expected to play a key role in decisions on dividends and other corporate matters, based on board directives and shareholder resolutions.

Ethiopia has put in place a strong legal framework and ratified key international environmental conventions to regulate hazardous waste, but weak enforcement continues to undermine efforts to curb the growing threat, experts said.

The challenge was highlighted during a review of the study and design work for the country’s first central Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility, attended by senior government officials, researchers and environmental experts.

Over the past two decades, Ethiopia has adopted several laws intended to protect human health and the environment from toxic substances. These include the Environmental Pollution Control Proclamation, the Environmental Impact Assessment Proclamation, the Solid Waste Management Proclamation and the Hazardous Waste Management and Disposal Control Proclamation. The country has also ratified the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, which govern the movement and management of hazardous chemicals and persistent organic pollutants.

Despite those measures, implementation remains weak, according to Amare Matebu, a lead researcher who presented an investigative report prepared by the Policy Studies Institute. He said the gap between policy and practice has turned hazardous waste management from an environmental issue into a governance problem.

Communities affected by pollution have submitted petitions seeking action, but the country’s limited monitoring capacity and lack of specialized domestic infrastructure have made it difficult for authorities to respond effectively. As a result, hazardous waste continues to accumulate in sectors ranging from agriculture and manufacturing to health care and education.

According to Firenesh Mekuria, deputy director general of the FDRE Environmental Protection Authority, Ethiopia imported 1.3 million tons of industrial chemicals in one recent fiscal year, nearly 4,200 tons of which had less than 18 months of shelf life remaining. Without strict inventory tracking and disposal controls, such chemicals quickly expire and become hazardous waste.

The country is also grappling with a legacy of obsolete and banned pesticides that have accumulated since the 1960s. Since 2008, Ethiopia has exported 6,787 tons of high-risk waste for safe destruction, at a cost of $35.14 million. However, at least 52 tons of expired pesticides are still being stored in poor conditions, including at the Kality warehouse.

The problem is not limited to chemicals. In the health sector, the absence of centralized treatment facilities has forced some large hospitals to burn hazardous medical waste in low-temperature incinerators or open pits, releasing toxic fumes into the air. In manufacturing, some factories discharge hazardous by-products into rivers or municipal landfills because they lack treatment systems. In the education sector, electronic waste and expired laboratory chemicals are also being stored unsafely.

To address the gap between legislation and reality, the Environmental Protection Authority and the Policy Studies Institute have spent the past 18 months developing the design for Ethiopia’s first fully engineered Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility. The facility is planned for Gumbi Bordede woreda in West Hararghe Zone of Oromia and is expected to be developed in phases between 2019 and 2037 Ethiopian Calendar, with an estimated investment of between $105 million and $155 million.

The planned project is intended to give Ethiopia a centralized system for handling toxic waste and reduce the environmental and health risks created by the country’s current fragmented approach.