Equity Bank Enters Ethiopia

The Bank has been given licence to begin operations in the country
Nairobi, 13th June 2019…. Equity Bank has set up a Commercial Representative Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
as it prepares to commence operations.
The Bank has appointed Hassan Maalim as the Head of the Commercial Representative Office which will be based
at Kazanchis-Addis Ababa Ethiopia and is expected to be fully operational in July this year.
Hassan brings a wealth of experience having joined Equity Bank in 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an
MBA in Finance.
Equity Group CEO and MD, Dr. James Mwangi said, “Having completed Phase One of our expansion, the entry into
Ethiopia is part of our Phase Two expansion in pursuit of our aspiration of being a Pan African Bank with presence
in 10 African countries by the end of the year. This will enable the Bank to continue to scale up and unlock economies
of scale especially in this era of digitization and virtualization of banking.”
The entry of Equity Bank into Ethiopia a country with a population of nearly 100 million people, follows Ethiopia’s
government appointment of a privatization commission and the ongoing reforms which are aimed at promoting a
growing private sector. Ethiopia is now ranked as Africa’s fastest growing economy according to data from IMF.
Kenya and Ethiopia have been working together on various projects, with the most notable being the LAPSET
project, where they have initiated a massive transport and infrastructure plans to link Addis Ababa to Kenya’s port
town of Lamu. The project also incorporates South Sudan, and comprises construction of ports, pipelines, new roads,
airports and standard gauge railways.
The two countries have completed and operationalized the Ethiopia-Moyale asphalt road and the power transmission
line that would further boost intra-trade is nearing completion.
The entry into Ethiopia comes soon after Equity Group announced the Bank’s entry into Zambia and Mozambique
after striking a preliminary agreement with Atlas Mara Limited to exchange ordinary shares in the Group for
controlling equity stakes in four banks operating in Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. With the addition
of Ethiopia, the Bank will now have operations in a regional market with a combined population of nearly 500 million
people, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC.

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