The Ethiopian Airports Enterprises, parent company of Africa’s largest flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines has temporarily suspended the planned partial privatization of the Ethiopian Airlines. This follows a recent review of the Airlines by the government.  The plan to suspend the partial privatization was announced by the Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide. The Minister noted that the airline company has continued to generate much needed foreign currency for the country amid the pandemic.

Ethiopian Airlines is one of the few to stay relatively stable, largely due to a shift from passenger flights to cargo as countries closed their airspaces. It changed 27 of its passenger planes into freight transportation.

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Partially privatising Ehiopian Airlines was part of the economic reforms ushered in after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. But now, it says that Africa’s largest airline will remain, for now, in the hands of the government.

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Analysts say that the government is cautious about rushing into privatization of the Airline at this period especially as efforts are being made to push the economy towards recovery especially as the Airline plays a very important role in the country’s economy being the largest employer of labour in the country.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry