Awash Bank has marked its 30th anniversary by announcing a significant milestone: the bank’s deposits have surpassed 273 billion birr. Founded on February 13, 1995, by 486 shareholders with an initial paid-up capital of 24.2 million birr, the bank has grown exponentially over the past three decades.
Currently, Awash Bank boasts a paid-up capital exceeding 25 billion birr, with projections indicating it could reach 55 billion birr within the next three years. Tsehay Shiferaw, the bank’s CEO, highlighted that total assets have surged from just 103 million birr at the end of its first financial year to over 300 billion birr today.
The bank began its operations with deposits totaling 146 million birr in its inaugural year, a figure that has dramatically increased to over 273 billion birr. Tsehay emphasized Awash Bank’s leadership in profitability within Ethiopia’s private banking sector, reporting over 10.8 billion birr in profits for the 2023/24 financial year. The government has also benefited from this success, receiving more than 3.2 billion birr in dividend tax during the same period.
In conjunction with Awash Bank’s anniversary, its sister company, Awash Insurance, has also celebrated three decades of operation. CEO Jibat Alemneh Faji reported that the insurance company collected premiums of 15.5 million birr at the end of its first term and has since grown to receive over 3.12 billion birr in premiums by June 30, 2023/24. The company’s paid-up capital has risen from 4.8 million birr to an impressive 2.5 billion birr, with total assets reaching 7.7 billion birr.
Jibat noted that Awash Insurance has maintained market leadership in the general insurance sector for the past twelve years and remains one of the top life insurance providers in Ethiopia for six consecutive years.
