Equity Bank Opens Ethiopia Office

Equity Bank is opening an office in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, following moves to liberalise the financial sector under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It is expected to be operational next month.

The move is part of the Bank’s plans for expansion across the continent. Commenting on the development Equity CEO James Mwangi stated, “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 digitisation and virtualisation of banking,” he added.

Equity Bank already has 289 branches across the region, spanning Kenya Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The bank is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, with cross-listings in Uganda and Rwanda.

According to the International Monetary Fund Ethiopia is Africa’s fastest growing economy.