The Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia Yinager Dessie (PhD) announced that the Ethiopian banking sector was registering resilient growth despite challenges. The Governor revealed this in a forum which was held to review the developments and future plans of the financial sector.

The digital payment system grew by 150%, as the number of mobile banking users surpassed 16 million. Yinager Dessie emphasized that banks should give due attention to digitalization and reaching the underserved section of the society.

The number of banks in the country reached 30 in total while the number of branches increased to 8,944, it was learned.

The growth of the financial sector was also manifested in other variables such as the growth in the total number of people who opened a bank account, the total asset of banks, and the net annual income of banks.

Accordingly, the total number of people who opened a bank account crossed 40 million during the last fiscal year while the total asset of banks reached ETB 2.4 trillion. In addition, the net annual income of banks was registered at ETB 49.9 billion during the same fiscal year.

Ethiopia is planning to open up its banking industry to foreign investors and it is anticipated that Ethiopian banks will face stiff competition when foreign financial institutions join the sector.

Source (including image): Fana BC and Ethiopian News Agency