Wegagen Bank's climb back to reclaim its former position under recently appointed President Aklilu Wubet has gotten off to a positive start as the Bank reported 1.4 billion Br in gross profits in the financial year that ended last month. It is a significant improvement on its dreary performance in the previous year, when its net profits plummeted by 85pc to 126 million Br. The drop in profit growth was largely due to the militarized conflict in the north, where Wegagen has a significant presence in Tigray Regional State. Over a quarter of its 400 or so branches are located in Tigray, cut off from the rest of the country since November 2020. The closure of branches in Tigray put pressure on Wegagen's deposit mobilisation. It increased by only five percent to 31.5 billion Br, a stark contrast to the industry's 25pc growth to an aggregate deposit of 1.3 trillion Br in 2020/21. Aklilu was appointed to take the helm as the Bank's seventh president in February 2022. Under his watch, Wegagen saw a marginal improvement in deposits mobilised – reaching 34 billion Br. The Bank's assets also grew 10pc to 43.6 billion Br.

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