DBE Ousts Top Leadership after Boardroom Dispute Spills Over

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has reshuffled its top leadership following a festering dispute at the apex of a policy bank over senior appointments and management practices.

Essayas Kassa (PhD) has been appointed president of DBE, while Brook Taye (PhD), chief executive of Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), was named chair of the Board.

In a statement and an internal letter seen by Fortune, Brook attributed the leadership overhaul to “a broader reform agenda aimed at restoring institutional effectiveness and ensuring DBE’s alignment with national development priorities.”

Teklewold Atnafu, former chair of DBE’s board, and Emebet Melese (PhD), president, were replaced on Friday, December 13, 2025, after disagreements between the Board and the executive management hardened over the appointment of vice presidents and the administration of competence examinations for senior staff.

The rupture, according to people familiar with the matter, had increasingly paralysed decision-making inside what would be a strategically important policy bank.

According to sources close to DBE, a last-ditch effort to defuse the standoff was made a week earlier, when Alemtsehay Paulos, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Central Bank Governor Eyob Tekalegn (PhD) convened a meeting between Teklewold and Emebet. The talks, the sources said, failed to bridge the divide.

Esayas was of the founding executive's of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA) when it was led by Brook. He has done his doctoral studies in Waldon University, United States. He had served as minister of Cabinet Affairs in the Prime Minister Office between 2018 and 2019. He also served in the Intelligence Network Security Agency (INSA) as director of strategic and cyber research and legal adviser.

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