{"id":282333,"date":"2019-07-23T18:54:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T22:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.google.com\/articles\/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV6ZWdhLmNvbS9OZXdzL05ld3NEZXRhaWxzLzcxNzQvRXRoaW9waWEtdG8tSW50cm9kdWNlLUNhc2hsZXNzLVRyYW5zYWN0aW9ucy1pbi1TdGF0ZS1Pd25lZC1JbnN0aXR1dGlvbnPSAQA?oc=5"},"modified":"2026-10-13T11:46:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:46:51","slug":"ethiopia-cashless-state-institutions-online-business-registration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/282333","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia plans cashless payments in state institutions and online business registration to cut red tape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethiopia plans to make state institutions go cashless to curb illegal currency trading, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told a July 2019 meeting on the business climate, Ezega reported.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n

The National Bank of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa in April 2008 (Shagada, Wikimedia Commons, public domain) [file photo]<\/em><\/p>\n

Non-cash transactions would apply first in government offices and later in private institutions, which would still be allowed to handle cash in small, predetermined amounts. Abiy Ahmed said the National Bank of Ethiopia would stop cash transactions as early as possible.<\/p>\n

The meeting, of the national committee on the ease of doing business, also decided that the steps to start a business, obtain a trade license and register would move online and take no more than a week. The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority would stop using cash register machines to collect taxes, collect annual payments online, and refund excess VAT within seven days. Customs was told to cut document-checking times for investors, and the central bank to quickly roll out a new policy allowing movable property to be used as collateral.<\/p>\n

The government had revised eight commercial laws to improve the investment climate. Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said provisions new to Ethiopia had been included, and Abiy Ahmed said the new commercial code would protect small shareholders and help a stock market develop.<\/p>\n

Arkebe Equbay, an adviser to the prime minister, warned that power cuts, corruption in the telecom sector and security threats could hold back the planned automation. Abiy Ahmed said private investors would be allowed into geothermal and solar power and into alternative telecom services.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia ranked 159th of 190 economies in the World Bank\u2019s Doing Business ratings at the time, far behind neighbouring Kenya at 61st. The committee aims to place Ethiopia among the top 100 by 2021, and it reviewed reforms in eight areas, from starting a business and getting credit to paying tax, registering property, enforcing contracts and getting electricity, 2merkato reported.<\/p>\n

Ezega listed the kind of red tape the plan targets. A business license had required proof of a degree, so a would-be software founder without one could not register. One Ethiopian entrepreneur returning from the United States spent more than three months proving that his unstamped American degree was genuine. Office lease papers had to be signed at the Document Authentication office, and the special cash register machines were costly to buy and to service every year.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong> Ezega<\/a>, 2merkato<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethiopia plans to make state institutions go cashless to curb illegal currency trading, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told a July 2019 meeting on the business climate, Ezega reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":837276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7911,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-ethiopian-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/national-bank-of-ethiopia-2008.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9NivD-1brL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282333"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837740,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282333\/revisions\/837740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}