Abyssinia Bank Taps to Digital Loan Solution

Feb 4 , 2023


[ssba-buttons]

The Bank of Abyssinia (BoA) is moving forward to provide banking solutions facilitating microloans. The Bank has hired an Indian-based tech vendor Newgen Software Company, that bagged the international bid on December 22, 2022. Over 10 companies have shown interest in the bid floated by the bank four months ago. The solution provider has committed to completing the project in six months with Yonas Daniel, regional manager for Newgen, and Menbereselassie Gebrekidan, procurement director at Abyssinia Bank, signing an agreement last week, at the Bank's headquarters, on Churchill Avenue. Newgen has previous experience building digital loan automation for Kenyan banks such as KCB and Equity. It partnered with MKTY IT Services Plc, under Markos Tilahun, to handle the pre and post-sales. Markos applauded the Bank for being competitive, creating a loan system, and making finance more accessible. He said the financial sector lacks a bank that can be a role model in technology, product diversification, customer service and efficiency. According to Markos, this platform could unleash the growth potential of domestic banks. "Banking won't be the same after six months," he told Fortune. The first-generation bank disbursed loans and advances of 111.58 billion Br in 2022, a rise of 48pc from the year before and twice the industry average of 42 billion Br.  Abyssinia Bank is also at the cusp of pioneering end-to-end digital services, introducing "neo-banking" in retail banking, allowing clients to open accounts and manage transactions without visiting physical branches


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...