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Mesenbet had been with DBE for 26 years, eventually
making it to the credit vice presidency, immediately
after DBE's management has conducted business
process reengineering (BPR); she was a prominent
figure in the development process and its
implementation. A week ago, she submitted her
resignation from the bank and is on a two-month
leave, which she is spending to develop a strategy
for the youngest bank on the bloc.
"Abay Bank has a grand vision," Mesenbet told
Fortune. "I believe it will make a difference."
Her resignation from DBE will have to be approved by
the State Financial Enterprises Supervising Agency,
now led by Sentayehu W. Michael (PhD). Abay Bank,
however, is hopeful that the board and the president
will get the approval of the central bank.
Once licensed, the bank will move from the
organization's office at the Mega Building on Africa
Avenue (Bole Road) to a new building under
construction on Jomo Kenyatta Street, near the
Ministry of Justice, company sources disclosed to
Fortune.
The bank has leased four floors from a new building,
including the ground floor and the mezzanine. The
second floor of this building will belong to the
insurance company to be formed under the same name.
The establishment of the new financial institution
was organised by Wondwossen Kebede, a veteran
fighter with the EPRDF and one of the founders of
ANDM. He had also been one of the organisers and
later board chairman for Wegagen Bank. His team has
completed the formation's work and is handing
affairs over to the new board.
The bank has been able to raise 120 million Br in
paid up capital and 174 million Br subscribed
capital. It was the only bank to have staged its
launching party outside of Addis Abeba, in Bahir
Dar.
"We have performed more than we had planned,"
Wondwossen told Fortune. "Our plan was to
raise150 million Br in equity by June 2010."
Major shareholders of the bank include the four
companies that are under Tirit - Dashen Brewery,
Tikur Abay Transport, and Zeleke Mechanised
Agricultural Development Enterprise, as well as the
Amhara Development Association, the Amhara
Cooperatives Union, the Amhara Water Works
Construction Enterprise, and farmers that have been
recognised as best performers in the region. Counted
among the shareholders are Afewerk Tekle, Haile
Gebre Selassie, Bizuayehu Tadele, chairman of East
Africa Holdings, and Aquasafe Plc, the water
bottling company. The largest individual shareholder
is Ketema Kebede, major shareholder of K. K. Plc; he
has bought shares worth three million Br.
The organisers had barred interested business men
and women from buying shares, attributed to their
track record of defaulting on loans from other
banks, sources told Fortune.
"We do not want to introduce a virus into our bank
and suffer," said one of the organisers, who did not
wish to be named. "Most of them did not come, and
those who came, we were able to screen. Those who
default on loans and cheat their way out of paying
taxes are known; we do not need any special method
to identify them." |
