Ahadu bank is set to be operational in four months’ time, after facing delay due to the current situation of the state and has received its business license from the national bank.
As Eshetu Fantaye, the first and newly appointed president of the bank told Capital that the bank has received its business license from the national bank and is preparing to organize its offices, staffs and certain things to its operation.
The bank has rented a building from sunshine construction located around the area commonly known as flamingo, as its head office. After being operational, the bank is targeting to open 50 branches all over the country, that is, 25 in Addis Ababa and 25 in regions.
This milestone move has left Ahadu’s promoters upbeat, which shall see the financial firm become the second bank to edge closer to operation and secure a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), following Goh Mortgage Bank. Ahadu is among the few banks under formation, what bloc industry insiders call “fourth-generation banks”. These are a new wave of banks entering the financial sector after a period of almost a decade that saw the formation of no financial institutions.
In a protected industry that is only allowed to Ethiopians who mostly start a bank with a capital of 500 million birr, Ahadu bank is said to raise 740 million birr in subscribed capital from 9,600 shareholders, and has a paid up capital of 540 million birr. This announced capital is not inclusive of share values sold to foreigners of Ethiopian origin who were very recently allowed to buy shares in Ethiopian banks.
Ahadu Bank S.C. is a conventional commercial bank which is established by Ethiopians and foreign nationals of Ethiopian decent. Complying with the country’s business law and National Bank of Ethiopia procedures, and comprising of a team of reputable professionals, veteran bankers and, prominent businessmen, have been gathered to make a foot print on the banking sector with a unique business model.
Starting from February, 2020 the organizing committee of Ahadu received the permit from the National Bank of Ethiopia. Following the permit, it planned to finalize the share sales until September 10, 2020 and proceed with licensing process assuming the state of emergency would be lifted placed due to the COVID pandemic, however the under-formation bank continued its share sell until the middle of December.