By LJDemissie
September 4, 2025
For seven years, Ethiopia’s National Bank, under Governor Mamo Mihretu, outsourced its public economic narrative to Zemedeneh Negatu—a media-savvy accountant masquerading as the country’s top economist. His role was pure theater, not analysis. With Mamo’s recent exit, the bank can reclaim its voice with substance over show.
Inflated Forecasts and Fiscal Deception
Zemedeneh peddled inflated forecasts and fiscal illusions across Fana Television, EBC, Addis Media Network, and EBS TV. His 2012 article Ethiopia: From Bankrupt to Middle-Income predicted a $472 billion GDP by 2025—a fantasy clashing with reality’s $126 billion (World Bank 2025), ignoring capital constraints, export volatility, and institutional weaknesses. In his November 2014 YouTube presentation Executing Growth Strategies in Africa – Ernst & Young, he claimed FDI into Africa rose 133% (2013–2014)—a gross exaggeration. UNCTAD’s 2015 report shows a 25% increase ($43 billion to $54 billion), a 108% overstatement unsupported by World Bank or EY’s 2014 Africa Attractiveness Survey.
From Dismissal to Fabricated Authority
The Reporter (February 2017) confirms EY ended its Ethiopian partnership with Zemedeneh. That day, he claimed appointment as Global Chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund—yet no appointing body exists. Later, he said he founded it, implying self-appointment. This sleight-of-hand fueled his next act: inflating credentials
Credentials Distorted
Trained as an accountant, Zemedeneh was hailed as Ethiopia’s top economist, his forecasts treated as policy. He referred to himself as EY Managing Partner, though he held the title of EY Ethiopia Managing Partner. The distinction matters: EY’s global Managing Partner sets firm-wide strategy; EY Ethiopia’s leads a country office; EY New York’s oversees a regional hub. Zemedeneh claimed the top role—falsely.
He also styled himself an investment banker, despite only consulting at EY. The difference is structural: investment bankers execute deals; consultants advise from the outside. By collapsing that distinction, he inflated his credentials and blurred the line between proximity and authority. This deception was amplified by state media with state backing—Fana Television and EBC—sidelining real economists with exaggerated forecasts. The silence of the Federal Ethics & Anti-Corruption Commission reflects a systemic failure—one that implicates PM Abiy Ahmed’s government not by omission, but by design.
Institutional Payback
As a reward for his proxy role, Zemedeneh was appointed CEO of CBE Capital Investment Bank by the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. CBE Capital’s financial structures and investment flows remain opaque. He now promotes 14% Treasury Bills as investment tools and a means of wealth distribution—despite 14.4% inflation (NBE, May 2025) and fees yielding a -0.5% real return nullifying any real return. In effect, he sells negative-yield T-Bills as if they generate 14%, framing them as instruments of inclusion and prosperity. CBE Capital’s 30% equity holders, concealed behind Dallol Capital, and CBE’s 70% stake, valued at over 1 trillion Birr but undisclosed, fuel a narrative conduit, not a capital allocator.
Systemic Corruption in Plain Sight
Zemedeneh’s ascent is not an anomaly. It reflects a broader pattern: proxies are deployed to sell reform while concealing rupture. His trajectory—from EY dismissal to self-appointment, from media economist to opaque investment banker—illustrates how spectacle supplants scrutiny.
PM Abiy Ahmed’s administration claims the state is not corrupt. But Zemedeneh’s case suggests otherwise. When credentials are inflated, institutions are opaque, and exits are reframed as promotions, the system itself becomes the fraud. Zemedeneh’s trajectory from EY ouster to self-promotion exposes the rot.
Reform demands truth
Berhanu Nega’s August 25, 2025, call for honest data unmasks this farce. Ethiopia must ditch proxies like Zemedeneh Negatu and demand NBE expose CBE Capital’s hidden investors. Truth, not theater, is the path forward.
The writer LJDemissie can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com or @LJDemissie on X.