In a bid to mitigate the shortage of dollars which is currently affecting most African countries, the central banks of Ethiopia and Nigeria have swapped $100M in blocked funds. This deal involved the swapping of revenues of Ethiopian Airlines from Nigeria and earnings of Dangote Cement in Ethiopia, which has been struggling to repatriate profits due to forex shortages in both countries. This swap deal would enable Ethiopia to access funds that they have been struggling to gain from Nigerian banks, likewise, Nigeria would get access to money which have been stuck in Ethiopia. This situation was what caused the CBN to offer Dangote Cement the option of a currency swap proposal which would allow the exchange of its excess Ethiopian birr for USD held by overseas firms which are operating in Ethiopia. Other sources also claim Dangote still has over $200M stuck in Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News July 14, 2023 17:41 UTC