Dashen Maintains Financial Dominance Boasting 3.5b Br Profit


Dashen Maintains Financial Dominance Boasting 3.5b Br Profit

Dashen Bank has registered another record-high profitable year netting 3.5 billion Br. Total assets soared over 144 billion Br during a year in which the bank wrapped up its five-year strategic plan. While the earnings per share declined from 532 Br to 442 Br, the bank has nearly doubled the paid-up capital requirement put forth by the central bank, reaching 9.3 billion Br. The 30th annual meeting at the Skylight Hotel was held last week while President of the Bank Asfaw Alemu, pointed to customer attraction, resource mobilisation and channel expansion as pillars of its continued growth. Asfaw attributed Dashen's success this year in acquiring a foreign loan to the tune of 40 million dollars from a joint commitment of the UK's British International Investment (BII) and Dutch FMO, making it the first Ethiopian bank to take advantage of the foreign currency intermediation directive. Dashen managed to open 253 branches in the year, raising its total to 835 across the country with more than 5.2 million customers. Board Chairman Dula Mekonen indicated that the treasury bond purchase requirement has had a significant impact on the Bank's credit deployment despite managing to obtain revenues of 18 billion Br.

[ssba-buttons]

Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...