Ecobank opens Ethiopia office

Ecobank Group has opened its 35th sub-Saharan Africa office in Ethiopia, the Togo-based lender has announced.

The Pan African bank, in a statement October 25, 2013 said it obtained the license to operate the representative office in July 2013.

Officials say the representative office is located in the Yerer Ber district of Addis Ababa and it will initially have a staff of three.

Ecobank stated that its new office will enable local Ethiopian banks to be able to access its [Ecobank] correspondent banking and trade finance activities across Africa.

“Our Addis Ababa representative office will provide us with an opportunity to establish an important foothold in Ethiopia, ahead of the anticipated deregulation of the banking sector,” said Thierry Tanoh, Group CEO of Ecobank.

Mr Tanoh noted that Ethiopia has emerged as one of Africa’s most exciting new markets and is forecast to be the world’s third fastest growing economy between 2011 and 2015, behind only China and India.

By Ekow Quandzie