Audit Reveals Over ETB 537 Million Uncollected at Addis Ababa University

A financial audit conducted by the Office of the Federal Auditor General (OFAG) has uncovered significant financial irregularities at Addis Ababa University (AAU). According to the audit report for the 2017 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (2024/25), the higher learning institution is holding a total of ETB 537.45 million in unsettled advances and uncollected receivables. Crucially, more than ETB 145.25 million of this outstanding balance has remained uncollected for five to ten years. The report highlights that a portion of these unrecovered funds includes money owed by academicians who failed to return from abroad after their studies or assignments. OFAG criticized the university for failing to take effective administrative and legal measures to recover the missing public funds or settle its long-standing financial balance sheets. The findings point to major gaps in financial management and accountability mechanisms at the country's oldest university.