National Dialogue: Ethiopia opened its National Dialogue Conference in Addis Ababa, built from grassroots consultations and set to deliberate for three weeks on political, social and economic fault lines. Digital Economy & Telecom: Ethio telecom and Huawei agreed to deepen their partnership, rolling out integrated digital solutions for enterprises and SMEs, including telebirr-linked payments, cloud, AI, cybersecurity and IoT. Trade & Logistics: Ethiopia is pushing logistics modernization to cut import-export delays, with FIATA-trained freight professionals graduating and a 10-year roadmap for re-engineering freight operations. Public Finance & Reform: The House approved €124.6m in concessional loans (Italy and France) to support macroeconomic reform and digitalize command-and-control and asset systems. Gold Market Policy: The NBE is set to phase out premium payments for gold suppliers by end-2026, aiming to curb illicit gold trade that feeds the parallel forex market. Agribusiness Exports: Ethiopia targets avocado export expansion in the July–September window, backed by cold-storage and logistics upgrades to improve competitiveness. Regional Integration: Ethiopia will co-host the Africa Trade Development Forum 2026 in Addis Ababa, focusing on cutting non-tariff barriers that raise trade costs. Humanitarian Support: Catholic Relief Services will receive up to $235m in US food aid for Sudan and Ethiopia amid worsening hunger.