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Business: National Bank Governor meets Kenyan, Moroccan banking executives, discuss participation, potential entry

May 4, 2023

1 minute read

NBE Governor Mamo Mihretu with KCB executives. Picture: NBE

Addis Abeba – Governor of the National bank of Ethiopia (NBE), Mamo Mihretu, met today with Kenyan and Moroccan banking and financial executives to discuss potential entry and participation in Ethiopia’s financial service industry, NBE said.

Governor Mamo with Andrew Wambari Kairu, Group Chairman of KCB—the largest commercial bank in Kenya, the second-biggest bank by assets, “to discuss participation in Ethiopia financial service industry.”

The Governor has also “met with the management of Attijariwafa Bank Group – a leading Moroccan banking and financial group, to discuss potential entry in the Ethiopian financial service sector,” NBE said.

#Ethiopia to offer up to five banking licenses to foreign investorshttps://t.co/FCCKIgRb6o
*"We will give three to five licenses within five years," vice governor of the central bank Solomon Desta told reporters.

*Ethiopia's banking industry is dominated by state-owned…
— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) May 4, 2023

Governor Mamo’s meeting with the Kenyan and Moroccan banking executives came a day after Solomon Desta, NBE vice governor, told media that the central bank “…will give three to five” banking licenses to foreign investors in the next five years, according to Reuters.

In April this year, Bloomberg reported that KCB Group was “in talks to acquire stakes in lenders in Ethiopia as it revives plans to expand into Africa’s second-most populous nation.” AS