"Honey, The Bills Are Here!"

Welcome to the 72nd edition of ፍራንክ Digest!

Your weekly brief on all things Finance and Investing. Quick, enjoyable reads for busy professionals in 5 minutes or less.

Here’s what’s coming your way:

• 👼 T-Bills: Ethiopia’s Divine Intervention?

• 💨 Emission Possible: Africa’s Climate Finance Playbook

• 🖼️ Big Picture

Thanks for reading!

And On The 3rd Day, The Lord Created T-Bills

Investing

Well this might not seem like the holiest of financial announcements but it seems that the one great part of the Ethiopian economy that is actually working is the T-bill market.

Following up to our T-Bill article a month ago, we’re sharing an update on all of the juicy gossip that’s been happening since.

Here’s the tea: news came in that between the period of July and August 2025, there was a significant sale of ETB 111.1B of government bond. To which you would respond “great”, “cute”, “tremendous” in fact (a tad sarcastic there), “does this mean I can afford life now?”

We’d love to take a crack at that but we’re mere finance writers, commentators and cheerleaders.

Our purview is limited to giving you an insight on what the investment scene looks like so that somewhere down the line, in the future, you can go to the grocery store confident, picking up not one but two boxes of cereal because your smart brain picked up on the investing cues ፍራንክ Digest gave you and now your T-Bills are flourishing. More power to you! Please make us proud 🥺

Alas, there’s more to this new T-Bill story…

🙌 What The Latest Holy Numbers Say

Planned:            ETB 103.4B

Subscribed:       ETB 164.0B

Issued:               ETB 111.1B

Refinanced:       ETB 78.2B 

 > Maturing T-Bills that were paid off (አለፈለት አዳሜ)

Net issuance:    ETB 23.9B 

> What’s left after refinancing

Amount of times members of the Ministry of Finance danced to celebrate that their reform was working: 5 or 6 takes (They get tired quickly 🥱)

Overall status of the T-Bills sales: success…kinda. 

They are getting more subscriptions than they are paying out. A net issuance is always the target but then there are goals to achieve. Currently set at ETB 172.9B.

Right now, we’re only at 14% of the way. Bit ambitious maybe? We’ll see.

💸 So who owns all of this Moolah?

• 45.3%: Most of the outstanding T-Bills in the market is owned by this little bank called CBE a.k.a The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia

• 32.5%: Owned by pension funds are also significant (Yes, they exist folks)

• 13.5%: Collective share of ownership of other commercial banks.

• 6.1%:   Held by insurance companies…how do you think they pay for your broken window? Just premiums? Yeah right.

• 2.6%:   Small share for Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), which is slowly becoming a juggernaut that could on its own bridge the budget deficit

💥 How can we participate in this madness?

The T-Bills market was traditionally buried under a pile of bureaucracy with limited information, especially before the digital age.

Today, there’s a more straightforward way to go to the market, just sign up for a brokerage account with one of the two investment banks currently licensed by ECMA, CBE Capital or Wegagan Capital, grab your shopping cart and just start raiding the bond shelf.

More on how to set up your brokerage account in one of our upcoming editions!

And good news: you can now trade 182-day T-bills on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) platform.

So, progress. 

Big Picture

Ethiopia’s bond market is maturing (pun intended). The latest period showed interest in all categories of T-Bills, including 364-day ones. 

However, short term is better term for the Ethiopian investor, at least that’s what the data says. Although yields (The amount of interest paid out) is higher on longer term Bills.

Overall demand is increasing, T-Bills are trading and access is becoming easier. Your contribution might feel like a tiny drop in a big bucket but if the upwards trend is anything to go by, your money will be cozier in T-Bill land instead of the dingy coffers of a bank vault.

ፍራንክ Picks 

🚶🏽 Event: Africa Smart Cities Investment Summit 2025 [In Progress]

🗞️ In the news: 450M Euro loss due to a contractor on the GERD project

♟️ Innovation: To all dreamers, your business license could be a click away

Climate Talks, African Solutions

The Africa Climate Summit is officially in full swing, and Addis Ababa is humming with energy, not just from its legendary ጀበና ቡና, but from the steady stream of international delegates, climate experts, and policy technocrats pouring in from every corner.

This is only the second Africa Climate Summit ever. Nairobi played host in 2023, where some big moves were made. USD 20 billion in green growth pledges, the launch of the African Climate Momentum initiative, and the Nairobi Declaration, which basically said, “Hey world, Africa’s ready to lead on climate. Invest accordingly.”

Now, it's Addis' time to shine. And no pressure, but the stakes are high.

☀️ So, What’s the Game Plan in Addis?

This year’s summit is more than a talking shop. Here’s what’s on the agenda:

• Reform how climate finance is dished out: more grants, fewer strings attached

• Show off African-made climate solutions that could go global. This is something we will be following closely over the coming days

• Build strong national + local systems to actually manage the money when it comes

• Form smart partnerships to support a just transition, meaning no one gets left behind when moving to cleaner energy.

This Summit is more than a moment, it’s a momentum builder. Africa is positioning itself as a heavyweight at big global forums like COP30 (coming up November 2025 in Brazil), the G20, and the UN General Assembly. And with climate change showing up uninvited and unrelenting, it's time to cash in on both ambition and accountability.

💰 But Let’s Talk Market Incentives

Imagine this: Governments put a cap on emissions, basically saying, “You’re only allowed to emit this much CO₂.” If a country goes under that limit, they earn the right to sell that unused pollution quota. If they go over, they buy extra from someone who didn’t. It’s kind of like trading Pokémon cards, except each card is a ton of carbon, and nobody really wants to collect them.

This whole system is called emissions trading or cap and trade. It's a way of making emissions reduction a little more flexible, and a lot more financially motivating. Check out our deep dive on carbon credits from our December issue.

🛠️ Enter: The Kyoto 3

Under the Kyoto Protocol (aka the OG climate treaty), three big tools were introduced:

• Emissions Trading: “I’ll sell you my unused emissions because I’ve been behaving.” This can work for countries and companies alike.

• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – rewards projects in developing countries that reduce emissions below what would’ve happened otherwise (yes, there’s math involved).

• Joint Implementation (JI) – same idea, but between two industrialized countries.

CDM and JI apply for individual projects and don’t operate under pre-determined caps. Instead, they calculate what emissions would have been without the project (aka “business-as-usual”), then compare that to actual emissions post-project. The difference = credits.

Over 8,000 projects in 111 developing countries took this route, covering everything from wind farms and solar panels to better cookstoves and greener buses.

🔄 So, What About the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement took things up a notch entering into force in 2016. Governments agreed to not only continue market-based cooperation but also introduce non-market mechanisms to achieve climate goals. Sounds vague? That’s because it is, for now.

Here’s the gist:

• Market mechanisms = trade-based emissions reductions with money involved.

• Non-market mechanisms = cooperation without swapping carbon credits. Think policy reforms, carbon taxes, green subsidies, capacity building and sharing technology.

Both are on the table, and both are essential for tackling climate change at scale. But just like a group project, everyone needs to show up, do the homework, and stop pretending climate finance is someone else’s problem.

Big Picture

The Africa Climate Summit is back. It’s Africa stepping confidently onto the global climate stage, not as a passive participant, but as a problem-solver with skin in the game.

There’s a strategic play here: Position Africa as a unified, influential voice ahead of COP30 and other major global climate decisions. That means shaping how climate finance flows, who gets a seat at the table, and how Africa’s priorities like adaptation, resilience, and climate justice are represented.

A key part of the discussion? Market mechanisms (like carbon trading) and non-market tools (like policy reforms and carbon pricing) that can unlock real climate impact…and real funding. It’s complex stuff, but Africa is showing it can navigate the technical terrain while keeping the conversation rooted in equity and opportunity.

Thanks for sticking with us, ፍራንክ family! Keep those wallets smart and your inbox open - we’ll be sliding in next week!