Development Bank of Ethiopia Launches Interest Free Banking

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has introduced DBE-TA, AWUN, an interest-free banking service based on Sharia principles.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has introduced DBE-TA, AWUN, an interest-free banking service based on Sharia principles.
The Development Bank of Ethiopia extended a loan of 1.42 billion birr to Saygin B.M Technology Group LLC, a Turkish company expected to establish a cable manufacturing plant.
Saygin requested a loan of 2.1 billion birr, making it the single largest loan request for a bank loan from a private company operating in Ethiopia.
The Turkish company intends to manufacture optical fiber and power cables said Tadesse Hatiya, Vice President of Credit Services at the Development Bank of Ethiopia.
Turkish Textile company, Sahinler Ethiopia Textile Investment plc, received a 628 million birr loan from the Development bank
of Ethiopia. The company is expected to engage in the manufacture of clothing, knitted items and a range of items at its plant in Adama.
The company originally applied for a loan of 1 billion birr according to anonymous sources.
The Development bank generally gives less money than what is requested because companies tend to inflate their financial requirements due to budget or currency exchange rate consideration explained Tadesse Hatiya, Vice President of Credit Services with DBE.
The President of Development Bank of Ethiopia, Yohans Ayalew (PhD), announced that during the concluded fiscal year the bank was able to collect ETB 10.9 billion from loans it availed. The President also stated that the Bank made a profit of ETB 3.8 billion during the same fiscal year.
Development Bank of Ethiopia has earned a net income of 491 million Ethiopian birr during the 2011/12 fiscal year. The Banks annual report, which was approved by its board of directors in Bahir Dar last week, indicates, it has surpassed its target of approving 7.9 billion birr worth of loans.
The largest portion of the approved loans was for companies engaged in the industrial sector. The industrial sector has received 5.8 billion birr in total, 143 percent higher than what the bank has targeted to loan out to the sector. Foreign companies, such as Saygin Dima, which got over one billion birr of loans approved last year, were the major beneficiaries.