Dashen Buys National Cement’s Debt

Aug 24 , 2019


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Dashen Bank S.C., one of the private commercial banks, bought a 1.2 billion Br loan that National Cement took from the state policy bank, Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE). National Cement, a subsidiary of East African Holding S.C., took the loan from DBE and was not serving the principal debt, according to a source close to the case. National Cement, which has 1,450 employees, supplies two types of cement products, Ordinary Portland Cement and Pozzolanic Portland Cement, both to domestic and export markets. Established by Italians in 1936, National Cement is located in Dire Dawa, located 515Km away from the capital. The company exports its cement to some African companies. Currently, there are 15 operational cement companies with an annual production capacity of 16 million tonnes. Fifty-two companies are registered to export cement, while 273 companies have secured a license to import. Dashen Bank, which has 415 Branches and 9,000 employees, was founded in September 1995 by eleven shareholders with initial capital 14.9 million Br.


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