🎬Wildfires

January 13, 2025

Good morning. How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along? A reminder: Based on your year-end targets, by now you should have read six books, filled up two journals, meditated for 250 cumulative hours, and saved your first $10k.

And no, we didn’t forget that love handle of yours. If you can still grab it with all your fingers, then perhaps you’re still in the Pro Max version of 2024.

— Edna Akanni, Obafemi Ayomide.

CURRENCIES

Currency exchange rates against the US dollar as of market close. Here’s what these numbers mean

ECONOMY
Ethiopia’s capital market finally comes to life

Julien Desmarches/AFP

Ethiopia is pulling a better ‘welcome home' impression than your grandma during the holidays. This past Friday, the country re-inaugurated its stock and securities exchange after a 50-year hiatus during which the country’s businesses were mostly closed to foreign investments.

Till now, the country had relied mostly on a commodities exchange where it traded mostly futures and options for its agricultural products as past administrations had shunned any external influence on its economy.

Bound to happen

While many speculate that this is the latest play out of Prime Minister Abiy’s sleeve to open the country up, the reality is that an economy as large as Ethiopia’s couldn’t last much longer without an infusion of cash:

  • Ethiopia operates the largest airline in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines.

  • It also operates the largest telecom company in Africa, Ethio Telecom.

  • The Grand Renaissance Dam, considered the largest hydroelectric power project in Africa is projected to supply more than 5GW of energy upon completion.

While the stock exchange inaugurated with just one private bank, Wegagen Bank listing shares, state-owned Ethio Telecom is projected to make its debut in the coming weeks through an IPO that could see it raise up to $234 million.

But not in the clear yet. Several analysts have touted the stock exchange as unlikely to solve Ethiopia’s foreign investment problems. According to Mark Bohlund, a research analyst at Redd Intelligence, only Ethio Telecom would come close to the liquidity requirements foreign investors usually look out for.

Zooming out…Ethiopia’s exchange will be the youngest of 29 stock exchanges already operating on the continent. According to Tilahun Kassahun, the CEO of the exchange, the platform could enlist up to 90 different companies within the next decade. A number far below the Johannesburg, Egyptian, and Nigerian stock exchanges. -EA.

TRENDING
LA’s persistent wildfires

Ethan Swope/AP

Wildfires are ravaging Los Angeles, having left at least five people dead, 2k+ structures burned, and 130k+ residents under evacuation orders. And while the toll of human suffering is unfathomable, the economic impact is already being added up: The total loss is estimated to be between $52B and $57B, according to AccuWeather, though those numbers will rise if fires spread to more densely populated areas. Insurers — many of which had already stripped policies for thousands of California homes — are preparing for up to $20B in losses as high-value homes and businesses are destroyed.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

“The easiest job ever would be an aspiring actor that got a role playing an aspiring actor.”

NEWS
Round the continent

Associated Press

  • Chad’s ruling party has won the country’s first legislative elections in more than a decade, cementing the Deby family’s stronghold on power.

  • The Sudanese government has introduced new banknotes and is encouraging bank deposits but experts fear this may be a fundraising approach for the war.

  • Ethiopian athletes secured the top 10 positions in both the male and female races of the Dubai Marathon this weekend.

  • Nigerian motorcycle-hailing startup Gokada has filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to secure $750,000 in new funding.

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