Abyssinia Bank Exec Joins Fintech Firm

Premium Switch Solutions (PSS), the electronic solutions share company that operates the electronic payment systems of six banks acquired Yoseph Kibret, former chief information system officer of Abyssinia Bank, as its new CEO, effective January 1, 2019.

Before joining Abyssinia four years ago, Yoseph, who has a quarter century of experience in the financial sector, worked at Nib and Dashen banks. An information systems director while at Nib, he held various positions at Dashen.

He began his career at the Central Statistical Agency, participating in the 2007 national census, and was engaged in 25 national surveys before leaving the Agency after half a decade of service.

“We chose him given his ample knowledge and experience in the industry and technology,” says Tsehay Shiferaw, chairperson of Premium’s board and president of Awash Bank.

Following Yoseph's departure from Abyssinia, Daniel Hailu, formerly the vice president of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia’s Enterprise Program Management Office, was hired as chief information system officer.

Abyssinia also appointed the former vice president of Commercial Bank for internal service, Meseret Asfaw, as its chief enterprise services officer, replacing Demissew Abebe, who left the company two months ago.

“I left Abyssinia of my own will,” Yoseph, married and a father of four, told Fortune.

An enthusiast of the works of John Maxwell on leadership and Daniel Goleman on emotional intelligence, Yoseph has first degrees in statistics and accounting and a master's of science in computer science.