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Ethiopia’s progress towards World Trade Organization membership has been a slow and costly process said Geremew Ayalew, Director of Foreign Trade Relation and Negotiation Directorate, with Ministry of Trade. The accession process is taking time and is costing Ethiopia a lot explained Geremew.

The Ethiopian team responsible for the accession process has prepared responses to the third round of questions presented by member states of WTO according to Geremew. The round consists of an estimated 134 questions primarily dealing with economic issues he said.

The New York and London based Fitch Rating projected Ethiopia’s economic performance for the coming year. Fitch in its report underlined the increasing debt risks from public enterprises.

Ethiopia is experiencing a surge in urbanization, with the number of recognized cities climbing to 2,543, up from fewer than 1,000 just a decade ago, according to new data from the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure.

During the previous fiscal year, 2013/2014, Ethiopia managed to earn U.S $ 400 Million from the export of manufactured commodities, Ministry of Industry disclosed.

Ethiopia’s much-anticipated Securities Exchange (ESX) will officially commence trading next week. Following successful pilot transactions, the exchange is now fully operational and poised to transform investment opportunities and economic growth.