Dashen Bank has officially launched a groundbreaking suite of digital services, featuring Ethiopia’s first digital onboarding system and a Mastercard-integrated virtual card. The unveiling took place during a high-profile event on April 3, 2026, at the Addis Ababa University School of Commerce, with the aim of eliminating the need for physical branch visits and enhancing global financial connectivity.

The highlight of this launch is the Digital Onboarding service, which allows citizens to open bank accounts remotely using Ethiopia’s National ID (Fayda). By connecting with the national biometric database, Dashen Bank enables new customers to create virtual accounts using only their mobile numbers and Fayda credentials. This system significantly reduces barriers for the unbanked and allows existing users to seamlessly integrate their traditional accounts with the Dashen Super App, resulting in a cohesive and efficient digital banking experience.

To expand its presence in the global digital economy, Dashen Bank, in partnership with Mastercard, introduced the Dashen Virtual Card. This service enables users to conduct international transactions on major platforms like Amazon, Alibaba, and Netflix. Additionally, the virtual card is a crucial tool for receiving international remittances directly. Bank officials have announced that a future update will allow customers to use their smartphones as contactless Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals.

To encourage engagement with these new offerings, the bank launched the “Super App Creative Award,” a TikTok-based content competition featuring a prize pool of 6 million Birr. The contest will reward the top three creators with 3 million, 2 million, and 1 million Birr, respectively, for producing viral educational content about the app. Furthermore, the “Dashen Star Referral” program was introduced to incentivize university students, providing them with monetary rewards for each new active user they successfully recruit to the platform using unique referral codes.

The scale of Dashen’s digital growth is reflected in the Super App’s performance metrics; as of April 2026, the platform has surpassed 2 million users and facilitated over 25 million transactions, totaling more than 250 billion Birr. With an additional 30 million Birr in prizes through ongoing promotional “luck games,” Dashen Bank is solidifying its position as a leader in Ethiopia’s fintech landscape, demonstrating that the future of local finance is increasingly mobile, global, and inclusive.

Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) is experiencing mounting tension with investors as it seeks to monetize government land resources. Now in its fourth year of operation, this sovereign wealth fund stands at a pivotal crossroads. While EIH has been lauded for consolidating state-owned enterprises valued in the billions, a new point of contention has arisen regarding foreign direct investment: the valuation and monetization of government land.

Meleket Sahlu, Deputy CEO of EIH, notes that the organization is currently “navigating a path” fraught with challenges related to how land is contributed as an investment for joint ventures. This tension originates from a fundamental disparity between the government’s desire to offer land as high-value equity and investors’ preference for lower lease payments and a transparent leasing system.

Since its inception, EIH has sought to shift the traditional approach of providing land solely through low lease payments. The fund aims to assign high commercial value to land, using it as a principal “skin in the game” to secure minority or majority ownership for the government in strategic projects.

“In the early years, we hoped to monetize the land by ensuring investors recognized its high value,” Meleket stated. “However, this has led to some tension, and we are still navigating that path.”

For many international investors, particularly in the manufacturing and real estate sectors, valuing land as a high-equity contribution can dilute their ownership stake or increase the initial capital required to accommodate “free carry” shares. Investors contend that even if the land is strategically located, poor infrastructure, such as unreliable electricity, water, and roads, should decrease its perceived value.

This tension presents a significant challenge for EIH: balancing its role in “market shaping” with commercial viability. Although the fund currently manages 27 large state-owned enterprises, its new greenfield projects heavily rely on land as the primary government contribution.

To address this friction, EIH is exploring “innovative and new” solutions, including a “head-hunting” approach to attract investors who prioritize long-term impact over short-term gains. By engaging institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds from Gulf nations or specialized European infrastructure funds, EIH aims to find partners who view high-value land equity as a sign of government commitment rather than a financial hurdle.

Recently, EIH provided insights into “free carry” shares, warning that “cheap and free things are often expensive.” This means that when land is easily given away or undervalued to quickly attract investment, it can force the government to assume unsustainable risks or forfeit long-term profits.

As Ethiopia moves toward opening its retail and wholesale trade sectors, the “land question” remains a highly sensitive issue. The manner in which EIH resolves current tensions will serve as a crucial indicator of how future multi-billion dollar urban redevelopment and industrial projects will be structured.

Shareholders of Ayat Share Company, one of Ethiopia’s leading institutions in the real estate and investment sector, are expressing frustration over a delay in annual dividend payments.

Despite reporting significant profits and announcing dividend distributions following the presentation of its 2025/26 budget year report nearly five months ago, no funds have been deposited into shareholders’ bank accounts as of March 2026, intensifying their discontent.

According to the complainants, the company traditionally distributed dividends within two weeks of holding its General Assembly in November.

However, they contend that this year, payments have been halted “without any sufficient reason.” Shareholders report experiencing various social and economic difficulties due to the delayed payments. The company, however, maintains that the delay is not a result of financial incapacity but rather a technical process linked to the country’s new capital market system and its registration requirements.

Over the past few weeks, numerous shareholders have visited the company’s headquarters and utilized various communication channels to demand their payments.

One anonymous complainant stated: “We bought shares thinking they would help us during difficult times. Now, even though a profit was reported and the General Assembly made a decision, we are left pleading for our payments. No one is giving us clear information on the delay. They say the company is growing, but our quality of life is diminishing daily.”

Another shareholder criticized the company’s silence, noting: “We voted at the General Assembly to take our profits a long time ago. But when we go to the office, we are told to ‘come back tomorrow’ or ‘come back in a week.’ A large institution like this should not lose the trust of the people.”

Responding to these grievances, Seid Yimer, Director of Finance and Investment at Ayat, explained to Capital Newspaper that the delay occurred because the share company is preparing to enter the capital market. According to the director, under the new law, any share company must be registered with the Capital Market Authority to conduct share sales or transfers.

Seid further explained that Ayat Share Company has signed a consultancy agreement with Wegagen Capital Investment Bank to assist with this registration and has been preparing a prospectus document. “This prospectus preparation has taken a long time. However, the final document has now been completed and addressed,” he said.

The company clarified that the primary reason for withholding the payments is the mandatory approval from the Capital Market Authority, which is required to issue receipts for shareholders who wish to capitalize (reinvest) their dividends.

The director recalled that during the Annual General Meeting (AGM), 62% of shareholders voted to reinvest their full profits, 21% chose partial reinvestment, and the remaining 17% opted for a cash payment.

Seid explained that the company had to await the Capital Market Authority’s response to reconcile shareholder interests and issue receipts for reinvested dividends. With the Authority’s recent approval, stating, “You may pay those who wish to withdraw,” the distribution process has officially begun. “In a single day alone, we paid out over 10 million Birr to shareholders; payments are now ongoing,” he stated, encouraging shareholders to collect their dividends.

The company’s recent reports indicate significant growth in paid-up capital. It increased from 2.5 billion Birr in 2015 (approximately 2007/8 E.C.) to 4.2 billion Birr by 2025, and has reportedly risen further to 6.49 billion Birr in 2026. Profit margins have shown similar upward trends; Seid highlighted that annual profits, previously around 800 million Birr, have now neared 2 billion Birr.

Ayat Share Company’s operations extend beyond real estate into various other industries. In hospitality, it owns Addis Ababa’s historic Ras Hotel and the Star Hotels in Lalibela.

 Furthermore, the company vertically integrates its construction operations by owning five concrete batching plants, wood and marble factories for producing its own inputs, and some of the country’s largest stone crushing (gravel production) plants.

The director also announced plans to offer an initial 1 billion Birr worth of shares through the capital market, noting that the number of shareholders has grown to approximately 14,000.

He reassured shareholders that despite minor auditing delays, all matters are now finalized, and dividends are actively being distributed.

The Ethiopian government has dramatically exceeded its planned fuel subsidy for the 2025/26 budget year, spending 272 billion birr instead of the targeted 100 billion birr. This overspending raises concerns that escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf may jeopardize the country’s broader macroeconomic reform agenda.

The 172 percent overrun was revealed by Kassahun Gofe, Minister of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI), in a recent social media post. This situation highlights the increasing pressure on public finances, just months into a four-year reform program supported by international partners.

Under the reform framework initiated in the previous budget year, the government had committed to gradually reducing fuel subsidies as part of efforts to modernize public spending and shift towards a fully market-driven economy.

For the 2025/26 fiscal year, which ends on July 7, 2026, the subsidy was capped at 0.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent to a maximum of 100 billion birr.

However, actual subsidy payments have significantly exceeded this limit. According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the 0.6 percent allocation was intended to provide temporary liquidity support to the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE) and alleviate short-term cash flow issues during the transition to full cost-recovery fuel pricing and the reinstatement of statutory fuel taxes.

Under this arrangement, the MoF transfers funds monthly to EPSE to cover cash shortfalls related to foreign exchange liabilities.

In a document published by international partners in late January, the MoF noted that favorable global oil prices had allowed EPSE to reduce its fuel import-related credit liabilities, shorten the average maturity of outstanding letters of credit, and build liquidity buffers. However, that positive outlook has since changed.

The macroeconomic reform, launched in July 2024, aimed to eliminate real exchange rate overvaluation through foreign exchange liberalization. This initiative lifted implicit taxes on exporters—who were previously required to surrender foreign currency at below-market rates—along with implicit subsidies on fuel and fertilizers imported at the official rate.

As part of this overhaul, fuel subsidies were integrated into the federal budget. Fuel taxes totaling 0.8 percent of GDP, previously managed by EPSE and the Road Fund, are now directed to the central budget. The 2025/26 budget includes a temporary fuel subsidy of 0.5 percent of GDP and a permanent Road Fund allocation of 0.1 percent of GDP.

Experts now caution that the government may need to allocate additional budget resources to address unexpected price increases for petroleum products, driven by escalating conflict near the Strait of Hormuz—a crucial transit route for global oil shipments and a key source of Ethiopia’s imports.

Earlier this week, MoTRI confirmed that approximately 180,000 metric tons of petroleum products destined for Ethiopia have been halted due to the conflict in the Gulf.

Ethiopia primarily imports fuel from Kuwait under a special settlement arrangement. However, analysts warn that this disruption may force the government to turn to more expensive spot-market supplies, which could require upfront payments for this critical commodity.

Experts familiar with the reform process noted, “The change in payment method, combined with the price hike, would place an additional burden on the country’s foreign currency position.”

They suggested that this situation might prompt policymakers to reconsider foreign currency sourcing options previously abandoned at the start of economic reforms.

Additionally, experts indicated that the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) may suspend its biweekly foreign exchange auction, a mechanism designed to provide dollars to commercial banks and stabilize the market.

“The NBE has not published a forex auction schedule for the fourth quarter of the budget year. An auction was supposed to be held this week, but it did not take place,” they pointed out.

These latest challenges draw parallels with previous disruptions to Ethiopia’s reform trajectory. The original reform program, launched at the end of 2019, was derailed first by the COVID-19 pandemic and later by the conflict in northern Ethiopia.

The government had anticipated that the current phase of reform would succeed by mid-2028, laying the groundwork for a modernized Ethiopian economy.

At the time of publication, efforts to obtain comments from Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide and Minister Kassahun Gofe were unsuccessful.