DBE Availing Finance to Promote Private Sector Accelerate Industrialization

Addis Ababa January 5/2023  /ENA/ The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has significantly increased the finance availed for the private sector to accelerate the country’s aspiration of industrialization, DBE President Yohannes Ayalew said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Development Bank of Ethiopia Yohannes Ayalew said the bank’s approval last year was 22 billion birr and disbursement was 11 billion birr.

This year our plan is 30 billion birr approval and 24 billion birr disbursement, he said, adding “all of our money is going to the private sector and there is no sector from the government we are financing.”

“Non-performing loans declining significantly from close to 40 percent now down to 10 percent. It is a big reduction in span of 2 years,” Yohannes noted.

“The bank used to approve close to 10 billion birr per year but last year for the first time in its history we planned to increase by 90 percent but we manage to do it by 120 percent.

Our plan of approval was 19 billion from 10 billion but the approval in the year was 22 billion birr, so that is a big jump. And this year we are planning around 30 billion birr approval but from the demand that we are now witnessing from our customers it could go beyond that and this is a big contribution to the economy,” the President elaborated.

According to him, the bank is making profit of close to 4 billion birr per year for the last two years and that makes it a sustainable institution.

He pointed out that customers are expressing satisfaction for its efficiency in terms of timeliness and quality of service delivery.

“All of the money is going to investment in agriculture, industry and SMEs, so in terms of job creation, increasing productivity, import substitution, and export promotion I think the development bank is now making significant contribution to the economy,” Yohannes emphasized.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia has a central role in Ethiopia’s move for industrialization, the President stressed.

Foreign exchange availability is a challenge, he stated, and added “but so far it has not limited us because of the support we are getting from government and development partners.”

The capital has soared from 2 billion to 37 billion birr, Yohannes mentioned, and underscored “this is just the beginning, our capacity is growing and we are growing.