By LJDemissie
August 7, 2025
Ethiopia’s institutions are speaking. The National Bank is warning against disinformation. The Ministry of Education is demanding transparency. But the real question isn’t what they’re saying — it’s what they’re enabling.
The Education Minister’s Call for Truth
At the 2025 Gonder University seminar, Minister Berhanu Nega made a striking statement: “Universities are institutions dedicated to the pursuit of truth and knowledge. Yet, many are unwilling to share basic, factual data… Transparency is not optional—it’s essential.” He’s right. Without data on enrollment, faculty, and research, policy becomes guesswork. Dialogue becomes theater. And reform becomes rhetoric.
The Ministry of Education, under PM Abiy’s government, has made commendable efforts to reform Ethiopia’s education system. Initiatives like school feeding programs and the establishment of tens of thousands of kindergartens and elementary schools reflect a sincere commitment to improving educational access and quality. Additionally, the Ministry has significantly reduced systemic corruption, tackling issues like exam theft and cheating that previously involved school staff, community elders, and parents. These reforms demonstrate a genuine push for transparency and integrity in education. Yet, if truth is essential in education, why is fiction tolerated—even celebrated—in economics?
The National Bank of Ethiopia’s War on Disinformation
Governor Mamo Mihretu recently assured the public that Ethiopia’s foreign currency reserves are growing, exports will rise, and the IMF “complimented” the country’s forex reform. He ordered businesses to use the banking system and threatened to name money launderers and confiscate their money. This sounds like a defense of truth. But it’s also a deflection—because the most damaging disinformation may come from the government’s own economic narratives, amplified by state-owned media and echoed across affiliated private outlets and social platforms.
Zemedeneh: The Accountant as Economist
Zemedeneh Negatu, an accountant by training, is frequently featured on state-funded platforms like EBC and Fana Television as a macroeconomic expert. His articulate and motivational style makes him an effective communicator, capable of inspiring public confidence in the government’s Home Grown Economic Reform Two. Using an accountant in this role is not inherently problematic—his ability to engage audiences is a valuable asset. However, the issue arises from mislabeling him as an economist and failing to challenge his false, exaggerated, and misleading claims. For instance, Zemedeneh co-founded Selam Bank and on national TV projected building 100,000 houses within four years, claiming this would generate wealth equivalent to 5% of Ethiopia’s 2021 GDP by 2025. Without constructing a single house, the bank collapsed, leaving shareholders abandoned.
State-owned media has yet to provide an explanation or lesson on the failure.
Shortly after, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia appointed him CEO of CBE Capital Investment Bank. He claimed CBE Capital would open 5 million accounts in 2–3 years, leveraging the infrastructure of the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), which serves 50 million depositors. Yet, he asserts CBE Capital “doesn’t touch public money,” despite CBE’s 70% ownership. He also promotes 15% returns on T-bills, ignoring the 14% inflation rate that erases real gains.
Additionally, Zemedeneh projected Ethiopia’s GDP would reach $450 billion by 2025, promising a middle-class economy—yet “Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries on the continent of Africa, with a per capita gross national income of $1,020 (World Bank, 2024).” Most alarmingly, his claims in Empower Africa’s article about selling Ethiopian Airlines to unnamed buyers and strategically leading the African aviation industry to a $20 billion valuation, including attributing Ethiopian Airlines’ current successes to his influence, have been widely debunked as false. These unchecked misrepresentations threaten to undermine the government’s sincere efforts to stabilize and grow Ethiopia’s economy.
Evidence of this misrepresentation is clear in the June 29, 2025, EBC macroeconomic reform show where Zemedeneh received 15 minutes of airtime compared to Dr. Abule, an Oromo economist, who received only 7 minutes of a total 22.6 minutes. This disparity underscores how state media prioritizes Zemedeneh’s narrative over expert analysis, reinforcing the article’s core concern.
The Role of State Media
Taxpayer-funded outlets like the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) and Fana Television have amplified Zemedeneh Negatu’s economic narratives without scrutiny—from the TPLF-led EPRDF government under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, through Hailemariam Desalegn’s tenure, and into the current administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Despite the repeated failure of these hyped, fictionalized narratives to translate into sound policy, Zemedeneh continues to dominate airtime. His segments often outlast those of actual economists from the Ethiopian Economics Association (EEA), and his claims go unchallenged. This isn’t journalism—it’s performance.
The Ethiopian Economics Association’s (EEA) Complicity
The EEA is tasked with promoting rigorous economic dialogue. However, when an accountant like Zemedeneh receives disproportionate airtime and delivers unchallenged, failed claims—while also narrating the story of Facebook’s founding and funding during a macroeconomic segment to motivate and inspire startups—the EEA’s silence risks being perceived as complicity. Although the Facebook story may serve to evoke emotion or encourage entrepreneurship, its lack of relevance to macroeconomic discussion underscores the problem. The Association may support the government’s broader economic reforms, but its reluctance to counter misinformation weakens its mission.
The Systemic Problem
The contradiction is evident: The Education Minister demands truth in universities, backed by tangible reforms. The National Bank claims to combat disinformation. Yet, the Prime Minister’s media strategy allows fiction to flourish in economic narratives, using consultants like Zemedeneh to promote policy with unverified claims.
This isn’t accidental—it’s a design flaw that risks overshadowing the government’s genuine efforts in education and economic reform. According to Afrobarometer’s 2024 survey, a majority of Ethiopians rate the government’s economic performance as poor, with 85% saying it has failed to keep prices stable and 72% criticizing its overall management of the economy. While state media amplifies exaggerated projections—like a $450 billion GDP target and 5 million bank accounts—citizens remain skeptical, citing unmet promises and lack of transparency.
The gap between official optimism and public experience isn’t just a communications failure; it’s a credibility crisis. Despite this, some officials argue that such optimism sustains hope amid economic challenges, though this view struggles to counter growing public distrust.
Where Accountability Must Begin
If Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is committed to reform:
- He must ensure state media prioritizes verified economic data over motivational storytelling
- He must mandate full transparency and disclosure from institutions like CBE and CBE Capital
- He must ensure that communicators like Zemedeneh are accurately represented and their claims rigorously vetted
The government’s efforts in education and economic reform are real and commendable, but they are undermined by unchecked economic narratives. Transparency must guide both education and economics to rebuild public trust. Until then, transparency will remain a slogan, and public trust will continue to erode. Readers can demand transparency through public forums, empowering a collective push for accountability. Only then can Ethiopia’s potential as a regional leader fully emerge.
Under international benchmarks of rigorous transparency standards, CBE Capital would need to reveal its full ownership structure, including all equity holders’ identities and stakes, the origins of its capital (public, private, or otherwise), and its governance framework, such as board composition and voting rights. Annual financial reports detailing profits, losses, and their allocation between public and private stakeholders would be required. This level of oversight could challenge misleading claims—such as the assertion that CBE Capital “doesn’t touch public money”—potentially framing them as inconsistencies rather than innovative branding, and promoting greater accountability.
The writer, LJDemissie, can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com or @LJDemissie on X.