Banks are beating a path to Ethiopia’s door
Lenders are lining up to establish a presence in one of Africa’s fastest-growing and most under-banked economies
Lenders are lining up to establish a presence in Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing and most under-banked economies. Now they need the government to let them open their doors. Over the past two years, Standard Bank Group, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, and KCB Group, Kenya’s largest lender, have joined the likes of Citigroup, Commerzbank and Ecobank Transnational in setting up representative offices in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-most populous country. The lenders are hoping the government will eventually start granting licences for fully fledged branches. The government’s growth and transformation plan for the five years to the end of 2020 does not allow for the sale of stakes in local banks to foreign lenders, or for those wanting to enter the market to start their own operations. National Bank of Ethiopia governor Yohannes Ayalew referred only to that document when asked by Bloomberg on February 10 if rules might be relaxed in 2017. Retain control "I doubt they’ll do i...
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