Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (22 May 2023)
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has recently released a snapshot of the country’s financial sector growth up to March 2023, revealing noteworthy developments and expanding opportunities for Ethiopians.
For starters, Ethiopia has experienced a significant 23% increase in the number of financial institutions, surging from 84 in March 2022 to 109 in March 2023. These institutions include 31 banks, 44 microfinance institutions (MFIs), 18 insurance companies, 6 capital goods finance companies (CGFCs), and 10 payment instrument insurers and payment system operators (PITs & PSOs).
Among the institutions, banks have the highest number of branches with 10,968 locations, followed by microfinance institutions (MFIs) with 1,074 branches. Insurance companies have 732 branches, while capital goods finance companies (CGFCs) have 55 branches. Additionally, payment instrument insurers and payment system operators (PITs & PSOs) collectively operate with a total of 10 branches.
The total assets of financial institutions have reached 2.97 trillion Birr, showcasing a growth rate of 23% from the same month in 2022. Deposits have soared to 2.08 trillion Birr, reflecting a substantial 30% increase, while outstanding loans and bonds amount to 2.01 trillion Birr, displaying a growth of 34% in the same period. Similarly, the capital base of the financial institutions now stands at 260.13 billion Birr, representing a 29% expansion.
The adoption of digital financial services is also on the rise. The Ethiopian Automated Transfer System (EATS) processed 2.9 million transactions of 3.6 trillion Birr. Additionally, digital financial services, including mobile money, mobile banking, internet banking, and card banking, recorded 650 million transactions, reaching a total value of 2.8 trillion Birr. The current status reveals nearly 60 million Birr to be in mobile money accounts, 22 million Birr in mobile banking accounts, 4.8 million Birr in internet banking accounts, and 35 million Birr in debit banking accounts.
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The opinions expresses here in the post "Ethiopia's Financial Sector Update: Growth in Institutions, Branch Networks, and Digital Services" are those of the individua's contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Business Info Ethiopia , BIE Intelligence PLC, its publisher, editor, or any of its other contributors.
