Ten companies are currently seeking to list on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) as of January 2026, according to the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, signalling gradual momentum in the country’s newly established capital market. The ESX, Ethiopia’s first organised securities exchange, was launched in January 2025 after the Capital Markets Proclamation of 2021 laid the legal foundation for modern capital market regulation through the creation of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA). The exchange is operated as a public-private partnership, with the government holding a minority stake through Ethiopian Investment Holdings. “Ethiopia’s capital market reform has established key institutions, including the Capital Market Authority, the Securities Exchange, and the Central Depository,” said Hana Tekulku, Director General of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, at the Finance Forward Ethiopia conference attended by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Ethiopia previously experimented with share trading in the 1960s before nationalisation policies under the Derg regime halted organised securities trading for decades.

Source: Ethiopian News January 16, 2026 12:46 UTC