Ethiopia to Print Its Own Money — Ending a Two-Century Reliance on Foreign Presses

YEBBOVIBES

Diaspora & Economy June 2026

Monetary Sovereignty

Ethiopia Moves to Print Its Own Money, Ending a Two-Century Reliance on Foreign Presses

After more than a century of sending the birr abroad to be printed, Addis Ababa plans to bring currency production home — joining a small club of African nations that control their own money from design to delivery.

Analysis Ethiopian Investment Holdings · National Bank of Ethiopia

For as long as most Ethiopians have carried birr in their pockets, the notes themselves were never made at home. Like dozens of nations across Africa, Ethiopia's currency was designed, printed, and shipped from presses in Britain and Germany — a quiet but persistent dependency dating back generations. That is now set to change.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced at the Finance Forward Ethiopia 2026 conference that Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) — the country's sovereign wealth fund overseeing more than 40 state enterprises — will build domestic currency printing capacity, reducing the risks tied to producing the birr abroad.

1.3B

Birr spent annually printing currency overseas, per National Bank of Ethiopia 2024 report

$105.7M

Cost of the 2020 currency overhaul — 2.9 billion notes printed abroad

9–12

Of Africa's 54 nations currently print their own currency at home

Why Now

The National Bank of Ethiopia has historically relied on foreign firms — most notably Britain's De La Rue, a company that has printed currency since 1821 — to produce the birr. Officials argue a domestic facility would hand Ethiopia tighter control over its money supply, stronger built-in security features, and meaningful savings over time.

"A domestic printing facility would give Ethiopia stronger control over its currency supply, enhanced security, and long-term cost savings."

The shift would place Ethiopia alongside a select group of African nations already printing their own money — Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and Sudan among them. For a continent of 54 countries, fewer than a quarter currently hold that capability.

The Passport Came First

Ethiopia has already taken the first step toward document sovereignty. The country launched its first electronic passport in February 2025, produced through a partnership between Ethiopian Investment Holdings and TOPPAN Security Ethiopia — a joint venture in which the Japanese conglomerate holds 51% and Ethiopian state enterprises hold the remaining 49%. A $55 million plant at Bole Lemi Industrial Park in Addis Ababa is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026, with capacity for more than five million passports a year.

No printing partner has yet been named for the currency side of the project — a contract that, based on comparable deals elsewhere, could be worth tens of millions of dollars and shape how the new birr notes look, feel, and resist counterfeiters for a generation.

The Caution

Economists are clear that domestic printing alone will not fix deeper monetary challenges. The move must be paired with broader fiscal reform, firm inflation control, and stronger institutional governance — without which, observers warn, currency production could complicate rather than strengthen economic stability.

Still, for a diaspora that has watched Ethiopia send its currency abroad for over a century, the announcement carries weight beyond economics. It is, in its own quiet way, a flag planted — birr made in Ethiopia, by Ethiopians, for Ethiopia.

YEBBOVIBES — REPORTING BASED ON NATIONAL BANK OF ETHIOPIA & EIH PUBLIC STATEMENTS