By Muluken Yewondwossen
The financial sector supervisory body, National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), approves the appointment of Abraham Alero as the founding president of Omo Bank, an upgraded microfinance powerhouse. The bank is now underway to move its head quarters to the capital city.
According to the letter that was signed by Frezer Ayalew, Bank Supervision Directorate Director at NBE, and issued on August 25, the go ahead was given to Abraham, to take lead of the bank.
Abraham who is not new to the banking sector previously served as the President of Berhan Bank, having joined as vice president in March 2013, rending a seven years service after which he resigned in November 2021 due to personal reasons.
As the new Omo bank president informed Capital, “I left Berhan bank to get some break and to inspire other up and coming professional.”
“The business and banking leadership have gaps across the country, and through leveraging my past experiences, for almost two years now, I was engaged in consultancy services to upgrade various professionals of multiple institutions. Now, I am back rejuvenated more than ever to take up my new role,” he said.
Abraham who has a Management undergraduate from the Addis Ababa University also leveled up to secure his master’s degree in Developmental Studies from the London South Bank University.
He joined the financial industry courtesy of the financial giant Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) as a junior clerk. His professional career CBE spanned for 14 years to which he served in different levels of capacity including senior managerial positions. Abraham then took his talents to Enat Bank where he became the founding project manager for three years.
As per the NBE proclamation, the assignment of senior executives ought to be approved by the regulatory body.
According to the information that Capital obtained from sources Omo is currently on its way to move its head quarters to Addis Ababa, which is a mandatory as per the NBE law. Currently, its HQ is in Hawassa, 270km south of Addis Ababa.
As it stands, the bank is on the process to officially get a HQ building for future inauguration in the heart of the country.
Omo Bank, previously, Omo Micro Finance Institution was established in 1996 with its name sourced from the prominent river basin found in the south western Ethiopia. The institution went on to service the public mainly in the former SNNP region.
A year ago, the institution secured a green light from NBE to upgrade to a bank which then allowed the financial firm to spread its wings nationwide rather than being limited to the former SNNP region.
As a result, major moves are being made to set its base in Addis Ababa and other regions.
At the current stage it has a paid up capital that has surpassed 2.5 billion birr with 12.3 billion birr in asset.
Currently, the bank is modernizing its core banking software with Oracle FS and its integration through its partnership with Profinch. The bank will implement the Flexcube core banking system as well as new fraud prevention and anti-money laundering (AML) software.