Oromia International Bank recognizes its “High Value Customers”

Oromia International Bank (OIB), one of the private banks operating in the country, has awarded certificate of appreciation for 126 of its “high value customers” on Friday April 8, 2016 at Elily Hotel here in Addis Abeba.

According to a statement from the Bank, the awardees include top depositors, top exporters, top remittance earners and top IFB (Interest Free Banking) depositors.

Abie Sano, the Bank’s President

According to Abie Sano, the Bank’s President, in the seven years of its operation, the total number of OBI’s depositors has surged from 9.6 thousand in 2008/09 to 482 thousand in 2015/16. Meanwhile its loans and advances including IFB trend shows an increase from 112.1 million ETB in 2008/09 to over 5 billion in 2014/15. The paid-up capital on the other hand has grown to 841 million ETB in 2015/16. The Bank achieved this way before the June deadline by the Central Bank of Ethiopia of the mandatory 5000 million birr paid up capital by private banks operating in the country.

According to a seven years performance report presented at the occasion by Abie, OIB’s latest earning on capital is over 36 per cent.

Although the Bank faces stiff challenges such as regulatory directives favoring state owned banks, according to the President, OBI is maximizing its gains on favorable conditions such as the increase by the Central Bank of the minimum paid-up capital requirement to Birr 500 million to start new bank (entry barrier), the increasing trend of domestic saving and investment as well as continuing demand for credit and foreign currency and a relatively low inflation rate mostly within expectation.

The bank is planning to raise its deposit to 34 billion ETB and its loan to 20 billion ETB, said the President. It is also planning to increase its profits to one billion birr and raise its Foreign Currency (FCY) to one billion.

OIB was established in 2008 with subscribed capital of Birr 279.2 million and paid-up capital of Birr 91.2 million by about 5,000 shareholders.  Today the Bank has close to 188 branches, making it the second largest next to Awash, while the shareholders number has surged to more than 11 500 in the 2014/15 fiscal year.