Siket Bank and the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) have forged a landmark strategic partnership to fully integrate their financial and information ecosystems. This collaboration aims to enhance the efficiency of agricultural commodity trading and expand access to credit for farmers and traders.
A key aspect of this partnership involves the direct electronic integration of the ECX Data Center with Siket Bank’s “Tier 3” Data Center gateway. This integration will establish a secure and efficient financial settlement system.
Siket Bank, which recently transitioned from a microfinance institution to a full commercial bank authorized by the National Bank of Ethiopia, leverages the modern “T24” core banking system.
Damtew Alemayehu, President of Siket Bank, stated that the bank will install primary and backup data transmission lines to ensure permanent and seamless information exchange under the new agreement. This will allow electronic account instructions or fund transfer requests from the ECX trading system to be directly and instantly routed into Siket Bank’s core banking system, with immediate digital confirmation of task completion sent back to the ECX.
A vital component of the agreement is the strengthening of Warehouse Receipt financing. The ECX issues reliable warehouse receipts that confirm the ownership, quantity, quality, and grade of agricultural products stored in various warehouses.
According to Damtew, Siket Bank will accept these electronic warehouse receipts as loan collateral. This will enable producers, traders, and cooperatives to easily access working capital loans without needing traditional collateral such as property.
To date, the ECX has facilitated 1.74 billion Birr in loans to product owners pledging their goods. The inclusion of Siket Bank is expected to significantly boost this performance and provide rapid liquidity for participants in the agricultural trade value chain.
At the signing ceremony, Mergia Bayissa,CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, emphasized the reliability of the institution’s payment system. He highlighted that this agreement marks a significant milestone, bringing the number of banks collaborating with the ECX in payment partnerships to 27.
“Over the past 18 years, the total amount of money deposited by buyers into exchange purchasing accounts and paid out to sellers has exceeded 430 billion Birr,” Mergia stated. “This has ensured that sellers receive their proper payments without any disruption the day after selling their products.”
He added that by fully transitioning its trading system to an Online Trading Platform, the ECX successfully traded 96,423 metric tons of diverse commodities worth 38.3 billion Birr between April 2025 and June 7, 2026, entirely without default.
Siket Bank President Damtew expressed his bank’s full readiness and high optimism for comprehensive implementation of the agreement. He noted that the bank’s rapid financial growth—with total assets reaching 24 billion Birr, capital at 10 billion Birr, over 795,000 clients, and a branch network of 163—positions it to become a strong competitor in the export financing sector.
“This partnership will provide our customers with a fast, efficient, and modern trading ecosystem,” Damtew said. “We will work with dedication to increase our borrowing customer base through the warehouse receipt lending service and contribute our share to the country’s economic growth.”
