(Addis Ababa, October 15, 2024) – Shareholders of Dashen Bank, one of Ethiopia’s pioneering private banks, gathered today at Millennium Hall for the 31st ordinary and 26th extraordinary annual meetings to review the bank’s performance during the last fiscal year and set out strategic objectives for the coming year.

Addressing the assembly, Dashen Bank’s Board Chairman, Dula Mekonnen, noted that the past fiscal year had been marked by both global and domestic challenges, which impacted the banking industry while also presenting new opportunities.

On the global stage, Dula highlighted the effects of ongoing geopolitical tensions, including the Russia-Ukraine war and attacks in the Red Sea region, which caused inflationary pressures, price spikes, and supply chain disruptions. Domestically, inflation was further exacerbated by internal conflicts, foreign currency shortages, and disruptions in global trade.

Dula also pointed out that the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) had implemented a tight monetary policy at the start of the year, with the goal of curbing inflation. The NBE capped credit growth at 14% and raised the emergency lending rate to banks from 16% to 18%. During the year, Dashen Bank successfully navigated liquidity challenges and a forex crunch while maintaining its commitment to its customers.

He added that competition within the banking industry had increased, particularly with the rise of mobile money platforms. The state-owned Ethio Telecom, through its Telebirr app, and Safaricom’s M-PESA, had redefined customer expectations in financial services.

Despite these challenges, Dashen Bank recorded a highly successful year. The bank achieved a remarkable Birr 30.9 billion growth in deposits, bringing total deposits to Birr 145.9 billion, reflecting a 26.9% year-on-year increase. The Islamic Financial Banking (IFB) division also performed strongly, contributing Birr 11.1 billion in deposits, a 37.2% increase from the previous year.

Dashen Bank’s total assets surged to Birr 183.7 billion, a 27% growth, and the bank concluded the fiscal year with a Birr 6.4 billion profit before tax, representing a 26.8% increase compared to the previous year. The number of new accounts opened during the period exceeded 1.44 million, bringing the total number of accounts to 6.7 million.

Dashen Bank CEO Asfaw Alemu emphasized that the bank had successfully navigated a challenging environment characterized by political, economic, and competitive pressures. Despite these challenges, the bank made significant strides, particularly in digital banking and partnerships with global financial institutions.

He noted that Dashen Bank had partnered with leading global players such as Accion and local fintech companies like EagleLion System Technology to scale up its digital financial solutions. These collaborations aim to enhance the bank’s digital capabilities, enabling the launch of innovative financial products for its customers.

A landmark achievement for Dashen Bank during the fiscal year was securing USD 40 million in funding from British International Investment (BII) and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO). The bank also received a USD 40 million trade finance transaction guarantee facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local businesses engaged in import-export activities.

As part of its commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, Dashen Bank has taken steps to establish an ESG policy and department, and is engaging with international partners to build capacity for sustainable initiatives.

Dashen Bank’s prudent management and innovative practices were recognized with several prestigious awards during the fiscal year, including:

“Bank of the Year 2023” for Ethiopia by The Banker magazine, a publication of the UK’s Financial Times.

“Outstanding Global Trade Finance Program Issuing Bank” by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

“Best Bank in the Micro-Lending Category” by Pan Africa Bank 4.0, in recognition of the bank’s digital financial innovations.

As Dashen Bank continues to grow and evolve, it remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering exceptional services, fostering innovation, and contributing to the sustainable development of Ethiopia’s financial sector.

ዳሸን ባንክ ባለፈው በጀት ዓመት ብር 6.4 ቢሊየን ትርፍ ማስመዝገቡን ገለጸ፡፡ የባንኩ ባለአክሲዮኖች 31ኛ መደበኛና 26ኛ አስቸኳይ ጉባኤ በሚሊንየም አዳራሽ ዛሬ የተካሄደ ሲሆን ያለፈው ዓመት የባንኩ የስራ አፈፃፀም፣ የዚህ በጀት ዓመት እቅድና ሌሎች ተያያዥ ጉዳዮች ውይይት ተደርጎባቸዋል፡፡

ጉባኤውን በንግግር የከፈቱት የዳሸን ባንክ የቦርድ ሊቀመንበር አቶ ዱላ መኮንን ባለፈው በጀት ዓመት በባንክ ኢንዱስትሪው አውንታዊና አሉታዊ ሁኔታዎችን የፈጠሩ አለም አቀፋዊና አገራዊ ክስተቶች እንደነበሩ አስታውሰዋል፡፡

አቶ ዱላ ባለፈው በጀት አመት በኢትዮጵያ የነበረው ከፍተኛ የዋጋ ግሽበት፣ በተለያዩ ቦታዎች የቀጠሉ ግጭቶችና የውጭ ምንዛሬ አቅርቦት እጥረት በባንክ ኢንዱስትሪው ላይ የበኩሉን አሉታዊ ተፅዕኖ ማሳደሩን አስገንዝበዋል፡፡

በበጀት ዓመቱ የዳሸን ባንክ ተቀማጭ የገንዘብ መጠን የ30.9 ቢሊየን ብር እድገት ማስመዝገቡንና የባንኩ አጠቃላይ ተቀማጭ ገንዘብ መጠን 145.9 ቢሊየን ብር መድረሱን አቶ ዱላ አውስተዋል፡፡ ከወለድ ነፃ የባንክ አገልግሎት ዘርፍ ለባንኩ የተቀማጭ ገንዘብ መጠን ያበረክተው ድርሻ 11.1 ቢሊየን ብር እንደነበርም ጠቁመዋል፡፡

የዳሸን ባንክ ዋና ስራ አስፈፃሚ አቶ አስፋው ዓለሙ በበኩላቸው የባንኩ አጠቃላይ ሃብት ባለፈው በጀት ዓመት የ27 በመቶ ዕድገት በማስመዝገብ ብር 183.7 ቢሊየን መደረሱን ገልፀዋል፡፡ ባንኩ ባለፈው በጀት ዓመት 1.44 ሚሊየን አዳዲስ ደንበኞችን ማግኘት እንደቻለና ይህም ለባንኩ አጠቃላይ ተቀማጭ ገንዘብ ዕድገት የበኩሉን አስተዋፅኦ ማበርከቱን ገልፀዋል፡፡ ባንኩ በአሁኑ ወቅት ከ6.7 ሚሊየን በላይ ደንበኞች እንዳሉትም ተመልክቷል፡፡

ዳሸን ባንክ በሐገር አቀፍ ደረጃ ለ6ተኛ ጊዜ በተዘጋጀው የታማኝ ግብር ከፋዮች የእውቅና እና ሽልማት መርሐ ግብር ላይ የፕላቲኒየም ደረጃ ሽልማትን ተቀብሏል፡፡

የ6ኛው ዙር የታማኝ ግብር ከፋዮች እውቅና እና ሽልማት ሥነ-ስርዓት በትላንትናው እለት በብሔራዊ ቤተ-መንግስት ተካሒዷል፡፡

በዚሁ ፕሮግራም ላይ 550 ግብር ከፋዮች እውቅና እና ሽልማት ያገኙ ሲሆን ግብር ከፋዮች በሀገር ውስጥ ገቢ በ12 እና በጉምሩክ በ7 የመምረጫ መስፈርቶች መሰረት ተመዝነው እውቅናው ተሰጥቷቸዋል፡፡

የዳሸን ባንክ ዋና ስራ አስፈጻሚ አቶ አስፋው ዓለሙ የባንኩን የፕላቲኒየም ደረጃ እውቅናና ሽልማቱን ከጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር አብይ አህመድ ተቀብለዋል ፡፡

በመርሐ ግብሩ ላይ የተገኙት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር አብይ አህመድ ተሸላሚዎች እንኳን ደስ አላችሁ ብለዋል ።

የኢትዮጵያ ከወለድ ነጻ የፋይናንስ ባለሙያዎች ማህበር 4ተኛ ዓመታዊ ጉባኤውን በዳሸን ባንክ ዋና መስሪያ ቤት አካሂዷል፡፡
ዳሸን ባንክ ስፓንሰር ያደረገው ጉባኤው የማህበሩ ዓመታዊ የስራ አፈጻጸም እና ቀጣይ እቅዶቹ ላይ ተወያይቷል።

የማህበሩን አመታዊ የስራ አፈጻጸም ሪፓርት ያቀረቡት የማህበሩ ስራ አስፈፃሚ አባል አቶ አንዋር አብደላ በበጀት ዓመቱ ከወለድ ነጻ የፍይናንስ አገልግሎት ዘርፍ ለመደገፍ በርካታ ስራዎች እንደተከናወኑ አብራርተዋል። ከባንኮች ኢንሹራንስ ኩባንያዎች እና ከፍተኛ የትምህርት ተቋማት ጋር በመተባበር የተከናወኑ ሰፊ ስራዎችን የገለጹት አቶ አንዋር ለዘርፉ ባለሙያዎች የተለያዩ ስልጠናዎች መስጠት እንደተቻለም ተናግረዋል ።

በተጠናቀቀው የበጀት ዓመት ለተከናወኑ ዘርፈ ብዙ ተግባራት አስተዋፅዖ ላበረከቱ የማህበሩ አባላትና ባለድርሻ አካላት ምስጋና አቅርበዋል።

የማህበሩ ፕሬዝደንት አቶ ኢብራሂም ዳውድ በበኩላቸው ማህበሩ ከወለድ ነጻ የፋይናንስ አገልግሎትን በኢትዩጵያ በተሻለ የማስተዋወቅ ግብ ይዞ እየሰራ መሆኑን የገለጹ ሲሆን የዘርፉ ማደግ በሐገር ኢኮኖሚያዊ ላይ ከፍተኛ አስተዋጽኦ እንዳለው ተናግረዋል።

ዳሸን ባንክ ጉባኤውን ስፓንሰር በማድረግና ለዘርፉ እድገት እያበረከተ ላለው አስተዋጽኦ ምስጋና የሚቸረው እንደሆነም በጉባኤው ላይ ተመልክቷል ።

ዳሸን ባንክ የወለድ ነፃ የፍይናንስ ዘርፍ እንዲያድግ የበኩሉን አስተዋፅዖ እያደረገ ይገኛል። ባንኩ የማህበሩ (EIFFPA) ተቋማዊ አባል ሲሆን በአለም አቀፍ ደረጃም The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) ቋሚ አባል ነው

The third phase of Dashen kefita pre-competition training was conducted this morning in Dessie.

In his opening remarks, Demis Idris, head of South Wollo Zone Work and Training, beyond providing banking services in the area, Dashen Bank is striving to fulfil its social responsibility by organizing an entrepreneurial contest. This creates a fertile ground for the youth to use their untapped potential and not to stay as job seekers but rather to be entrepreneurs, he added.

Head Mr. Tilahun Kebede, head of Dessie City Administration Work and Training Department, in his part, said Dashen Bank is helping the area with loan provision, job creation, and other multi-faceted services.

Elias Hussain, Chief Strategy Officer of Dashen Bank, said that apart from providing modern and technology-assisted customer-oriented services, since its establishment, Dashen Bank has carried out many other activities to fulfil its corporate social responsibility through humanitarian works, the building of feeding centers, and job creation, among many others.

This entrepreneurship competition will play pivotal a role in the economy by creating jobs for thousands of young people throughout the country, Elias added.

Addisu Ayalew, Dashen Bank’s Dessie District Director, indicated that one of the many activities that Dashen Bank does to fulfil its social responsibility is this type of entrepreneurship competition and he conveyed a message to the participants to make the most out of this opportunity.

So far, the third phase of Dashen Kefita pre-competition has been conducted in Hawassa, Adama, Wolaita Sodo, Dire Dawa, Jimma, and Mekelle. Similar training will be conducted in Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa.