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2026-05-05

Wegagen leads ESX up 2.1% to 1,200 birr; parallel ETB premium widens to 16.7%

Wegagen Bank (WGBX) closed up 2.13% at ETB 1,200 on May 4 and Awash gained 2.05% to ETB 3,000. Parallel USD/ETB sits at 182.88, putting the gap to the official 156.74 at 16.7%.

FX Official USD/ETB held flat at 156.7401 buy / 156.7401 sell (data as of 2026-05-04, today's session not yet in). Parallel USD/ETB came in at 182.8795 today (2026-05-05), unchanged on the day after a –0.017% tick on May 4. The parallel premium over the official sell rate now stands at 16.7%, computed from sheet values (182.8795 vs 156.7401). Across the official basket on May 4, all majors (EUR, GBP, JPY, CNY, AED) printed unchanged.

Macro No fresh macro releases inside the 14-day window — the latest official print on the sheet is headline inflation at 9.4% YoY (2026-04-15), with NBE policy rate at 15.0% (2026-03-21). On May 4, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide told the House Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance that reforms launched in FY2017 EC are delivering stronger-than-expected growth and easing inflation per the nine-month performance report.

ESX Data as of 2026-05-04, today's session not yet in.

- WGBX (Wegagen Bank): top gainer, up 2.13% to ETB 1,200.00 - AWAB (Awash Bank): up 2.05% to ETB 3,000.00 - GDAB (Gadaa Bank): unchanged at ETB 1,000.00 - IBMM (Interbank Money Market): down 0.07% at 12.00

No material decliners. Awash and Wegagen accounted for the day's only directional moves on the equity board.

Watch - NBE has finalized a draft Insurance Business Proclamation that would transfer insurance oversight to a new Ethiopian Insurance Regulatory Authority, with a seven-member board including NBE and CMA representatives — insurance is next on the liberalization track after banking (Reporter, May 4). - PM Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia is on track for a historic USD 10 billion export year at the 4th Made in Ethiopia Expo opening (ENA, May 3). - The London Court of International Arbitration dismissed USD 750M of Yapi Merkezi's USD 979.9M claim against Ethiopian Railway Corporation and ordered return of a USD 29.1M advance (Reporter, May 2). - Commercial Bank of Ethiopia flagged digital banking service disruptions tied to a system upgrade (Borkena, May 3).