Part of the Ethiopian Government’s recent reform measure aims to correct imbalances and safeguard macro-financial stability in the country, among others. As part of the requirements for macro-economic stability, the reform program provides improvements to access to finance and the development of a capital market, where securities such as shares, bonds and derivatives are bought and sold. As a result, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), which is the central bank of the country, was tasked to prepare the legal framework and came up with a draft capital markets proclamation, which was later approved and enacted by the Federal Parliament in its regular session held on June 10, 2021, as Proclamation No. 1248/2021. Consequently, actions are being taken by the government to operationalize the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority by the end of 2021 and finally the Ethiopian Securities Exchange through public-private partnership arrangements in 2022.

Letter of credit transactions have been developed since the Middle Ages in connection with the trade of goods at the international level. Individuals and companies have found themselves dealing with partners of whom they know little, located in distant countries with often insecure political and economic situations. Furthermore, the dynamism of the economy creates a need for financing that requires a guarantee of payment at a time and for an amount that must be certain. Diversity in geographical nature, weather, climate, production system, and globalization in culture and fashion has made the countries dependent on each other for the daily necessities. Similarly, one continent is largely dependent on the products of other continents. In addition, diversity in human appetite and attitude, unequal development of technology, desire for luxury, and the development of communication systems and tale-communication revolutionarily increase the necessity of transnational, transcontinental business activities.

የኮሮና ወረርሽኝን ተከትሎ በሽታዉን ከመቋቋም ጎን ለጎን ኢተዮጵያ ካጋጠማት ችግሮች መካካል አንዱ የገበያ በተለመደዉ የፍላጎትና አቅርቦት መርህ (Demand and supply) አለመሄድ ነዉ፡፡ ይህ ችግር በአብዘኃኛዉ ያደጉ ሃገራት ላይ በተለይ በእንደዚህ አስጊ ሰዓት የመፈጠር እድሉ በጣም ዝቅተኛ ነዉ፤ ይህም የሆነበት ምክንያት በንጽጽር በአደጉት ሃገራት ያሉ ነጋዴዎች ያዳበሩት የንግድ ስነ ምግባር (Business ethics) ከእኛ የላቀ መሆኑ ነዉ፡፡ በሽታዉን አስመልክቶ በገበያዉ ብዙ አይነት ሸማቹን አደጋ ላይ የጣሉ ነገሮች ከአዋጁም በፊት ይሁን እሱን ተከትሎ እየተከሰቱ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ለአብነት ያክል ወደ ጎን /ወደ ታች/ ባሉ ነጋዴዎች የሚደረግ የንግድ ዉድድሩን የሚገቱ ስምምነቶች፤ እነዚህም ስምምነቶች ዋጋን ከፍ ማድረግ፣ መጠንን መቀነስ፣ የንግድ እቃዎችን መደበቅ፣ ሸማቾችን መምረጥ (ማግለል ) እና መሰል ድርጊቶችን ያካተቱ ናቸዉ፡፡ እንዲሁም ነጋዴ ወይንም ነጋዴ ባልሆኑ ሰዎች ደግሞ የማከማቸት ስራዎች በተለይ በከተሞች ላይ ጎልተዉ የሚስተዋሉ ችግሮች ናቸዉ፡፡ ኢትዮጵያ ምንም እንኳን እነዚህን ጉዳዮች የሚገዛ የህግ ማዕቀፍ ማለትም (የገበያ ዉድድር ና የሸማቾች ጥበቃ አዋጅ 813/2006) ቢኖራትም ነገር ግን ችግሩን ለማቃለል ብዙ የአፈጻፀም ጉድለቶች ይስተዋሉበታል፡፡ ይሀንንም አስመልክቶ ትልቅ ተስፋ የተጣለበት የአስቸኳይ ግዜ አዋጁና አሱን የሚያብራራዉ ደንብ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን በተጠበቀዉ ደረጃ ሳይሆን ገበያን ከመቆጣጠር አንጻር ትልቅ ክፍተትን ያሳያል፡፡

Businesses want to become big. They want their presence to be felt in every corner of the world. Investors explore different avenues to do this by injecting capital, selling equities, reinvesting their profits, opening different branch offices, acquiring other firms or merging with other entities. By the same token, corporations may also use these tactics to either dominate the market or protect their infant industry from other big entities.

Traditionally, corporations were responsible only to their owners; their primary objective was profit maximization. Corporations’ responsibility towards the community and the environment in which they operate was overlooked. Hence, Corporations’ responsibility towards the community and the environment, which is commonly known as corporate social responsibility, is a recent development in the area of corporate governance.

In an old English case [Richardson v. Melish, 2Bing. 228(251) Court of Common Pleas, England (1824)] Judge Burrough stated that public policy is “unruly horse and once you get astride to it, you do not know where it will carry you.”  This judge has sufficient reason for saying public policy is unruly horse: case law and scholars have tried to define public policy; but none succeeded in giving a concise, precise, and short definition. Its concept remains controversial.

Introduction

The century we are living in is the age of information and communication technology. Increased use of these electronic communications improve the efficiency of commercial activities, enhances trade connections and allows new access opportunities for previously remote parties and markets, thus playing a fundamental role in promoting trade and economic development, both domestically and internationally.