By Hayal Alemayehu

The amount of credit the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) allocates to finance the export sector had tripled in six months at the end of the first half of the current Ethiopian fiscal year, CBE president Bekalu Zeleke told The Reporter.
“At the end of the last fiscal year, the share of CBE’s financing of the export sector was only 17 percent,” the president said. “As of the end of the first half of the current fiscal year, that figure had surpassed 50 percent.”

According to the president, the bank’s share of the market in major banking sectors is over 70 percent with remittance topping 74 percent. Accordingly, the bank will significantly raise the amount of finance it allocates for the export sector during the current fiscal year, Bekalu said.

Owing to the fact that the export sector has been significantly growing over the last five years, commercial banks operating in the country have been actively involved in financing the market.

Given the significance of the export sector in earning foreign currencies, some of the private banks operating in the country are currently organizing an annually held event dubbed "Exporters’ Day" to honor exporters, with Awash International Bank (AIB) spearheading the move.

According to the president of CBE, the bank’s financing of the export sector had exceed 50 percent at the end of the current first half-year while the amount will significantly increase during the second half-year.

In the meantime, five international IT companies from Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. are competing to automate the bank’s 210 branches scattered nationwide. The bank has some of its branches in Addis Ababa automated but the latest move by CBE will involve a grand-scale technology that will involve more than a core banking system some of the private banks operating in the country installed, according to the president.
The bank is currently evaluating the proposal of the five companies contesting to clinch the multi-million-dollar project.

Source: Read More From Reporter