The National Bank of Ethiopia has announced that five foreign banks will be granted licenses to enter and provide services in Ethiopia.
The bank also stressed that indigenous banks should make extensive preparations and review their previous strategies.
The Deputy Governor of the Financial Institutions Sector of the National Bank of Ethiopia, Mr. Solomon Desita, said that in addition to strengthening local financial institutions, efforts are being made to bring foreign banks into the country.
“We are completing the work now. We are also completing the work of revising the decree. We are asking for some input from donors, and the work is speeding up,” said Mr Solomon.
Mr Solomon told the Ethiopian Herald that, plans are being made to grant licenses to up to five foreign banks in the next five years,
According to the Deputy Governor, local banks should work on capacity building and indicated that there is a set procedure for this.
Mr. Solomon explained that the institutions should spend two percent of their regular budget on capacity building, which was transferred to the banks many years ago, and will still be monitored accordingly.
Mr. Solomon added that it is not possible to go as usual. Since the reform, there have been many new things. He said it is important to allocate a budget and work widely.
The National Bank of Ethiopia granted a mobile bank license to Safaricom’s digital banking service platform, known as Mpesa.
