Four new banks, owned by almost 200,000 shareholders, are in their final stages of receiving a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). The banks have already held their first general assembly and met other requirements set by the central bank.
Amhara, Goh, Ahadu and Tsehay are the banks that are waiting for a license and a green light from the NBE to start operation. “They will be granted a license very soon since they have fulfilled the capital requirement and other prerequisites,” said Frezer Ayalew, Director of Bank Supervision at the NBE.
According to the NBE, currently, 20 banks are under formation after getting the green light from the bank to sell shares to the public. If they succeed, the number of commercial banks will jump to 43.
Currently, 19 commercial banks are operational in Ethiopia. 17 are private, and two of them, Zamzam and Hijra, joined the industry recently after being granted a license by the NBE.
Amhara Bank was the latest to hold its general assembly among the new financial institutions awaiting a license. Having a paid-up capital of almost six billion Birr, the Bank has more than 185,000 shareholders.
Tsehay Bank, which has managed to collect 734 million Birr from 373 shareholders, also held its general assembly on February 18, 2021. This came a month after the founding shareholders’ meeting of Ahadu Bank, which managed to collect 760 million Birr in paid-up capital from 10,500 shareholders, was held.
Likewise, Goh Bank’s general assembly was held in October 2020 after the mortgage bank collected 530 million Birr in paid-up capital, which is 30 million Birr higher than NBE’s minimum requirement.
