A new bill is in the making, aiming at regulating the functions and accountabilities of share companies. It proposes for the first time such companies issue bonds to the public, in their bid to raise resources to finance projects, after obtaining security guarantees from the central bank.

It has been only the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), municipality administrations and the state owned Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) that have been offering bonds to the public. A 72-page draft law, dubbed as “Pro-shareholders Bill”, will change this soon; in Provision Six, it has included share companies in the list of entities that are authorized to issue bonds to the public. Click here to read more.