A video circulating on online platforms like Youtube with more than eight thousand views, on TikTok more than three thousand views claimed that Ethiopia has signed an agreement with a Japanese company, TOPPAN Gravity, to build a large infrastructure in Addis Ababa Bole, Lemi industrial park, for the purpose of printing Ethiopian Birr locally.
The video uses footage of various government officials and TOPPAN Gravity administrators to support its claim.
However, an investigation by Haqcheck reveals that the agreement is not for printing currency, but rather for the production of high-security documents like Passports: National ID cards, ATM cards, Mastercard products and other governmental documents.
On May 8,2024 Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) an Ethiopian public media outlet news release covered the issue as the agreement between Ethiopia and TOPPAN Gravity focuses on the production of secure documents, including: Passports: Providing citizens with secure and tamper-proof travel documents, National ID cards: Enhancing identity verification and security measures, ATM cards: Ensuring secure access to financial services, Mastercard products: Enabling secure and reliable payment transactions ,and these documents will incorporate embedded microchips, further enhancing their security and authenticity.
In addition to Fana’s report TOPPAN Gravity too announced the agreement as “With the launch of the manufacturing plant in Ethiopia as a first step, the TOPPAN Group plans to harness its technologies and solutions to establish capabilities for the provision of a full range of government ID solutions in the African market, with a view to producing IDs and passports for neighbouring countries in the future. The government of Ethiopia, meanwhile, will ensure operational design aligned with local needs by establishing rules and regulations for passports and IDs.”
Mr. Mamo Mihretu, governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia, also verified for HaqCheck that the agreement does not include printing the Ethiopian currency.
Historically, Ethiopia has changed the currency a number of times and over the years, the nation have signed agreements with different currency printing companies. Although Ethiopia has had its own currency for many years and has undergone various changes, it is not easy to find such extensive information about the printing of currencies.
As Ethiopia underwent modernization around 1903, a new coinage system of currency, with 200,000 dollars, was produced at the Paris Mint in 1894 for Emperor Menelik II.
In the more recent history of Ethiopia, the first banknotes or paper money were introduced in 1915 by the Bank of Abyssinia, marking a shift from solely using coins as currency, Emerged in the country. Prior to this, the thaler had been the standard unit.
The Bank of Abyssinia introduced its first banknotes in denominations of 5, 10, 100 and 500 talari, with an initial print run of 280,000 talari worth of notes.
Ethiopia has had currency changes over the years, including recent currency changes.
In November 1997, the EPRDF government that took control introduced changes to the DERG currency, making minor feature and colour updates. The higher denomination notes, specifically the 50 and 100 birr bills, received enhanced security features as part of this redesign.
Later, on September 14,2020, the National Bank of Ethiopia introduced new currency notes, with enhanced security features and other distinctive elements. The new currency notes replaced the 10, 50 and 100 bill notes while an additional 200 birr note was introduced.
In different times the currency printing issue has been raised and reported by different media outlets. In 2008, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) awarded a multi-million dollar contract to two international currency printing companies – Giesecke & Devrient GmbH (Germany) and De La Rue (UK) – to print various denominations of the Ethiopian Birr. The NBE had announced an international tender in May 2008, inviting currency printers to submit bids to produce a total of just over 1.1 billion Ethiopian Birr in all denominations of the national currency.
Additionally, on July 31, 2013, online media purportedly reported that the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is considering printing Birr notes in Sudan.
A group of experts travelled to Sudan and visited the Sudan Currency Printing Press (SCPP), a private enterprise established in 1994. According to the report experts from the state-owned printing company Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise also went to Sudan to visit SCPP and its machines and assess the company’s capacity.
On December 14,2014, a report was released as “The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is in the process of establishing its own banknotes and security printing factory to print cash locally.
According to an article published by Deutsche Welle on March 24,2022, Ethiopia place orders for its currency printing from British banknote printing giant De La Rue.
In another article published on May 29,2024 it was also stated that Ethiopia prints its currency in Europe and North America. Ethiopia, specifically, has its money printed by a British printer called De La Rue.
Although various ideas have been raised about Ethiopia’s currency printing, there is currently no official information from the government or the National Bank. But, the Ethiopian money printing centre as claimed recently, arose from an agreement made between Ethiopia and TOPPAN GRAVITY does not include currency printing.
The claim was made against this backdrop. The video’s misleading claim likely stems from a misunderstanding of the agreement’s scope. The focus on high-security documents might have been misinterpreted as a move to print currency. However, it’s important to rely on credible sources.
The video claiming that Ethiopia has signed an agreement with TOPPAN Gravity to print currency is false.
The agreement focuses on the production of high-security documents, which are crucial for national security and economic development. It’s essential to be critical of information found online and to rely on verified sources for accurate information.