East Africa Bank said it is planning to deliver the highest standards of banking services in Ethiopia in line with Shari’a principles.
Bank’s CEO Ibrahim Rashid Jaffar told The Ethiopian Herald that since licensed in 2010 by the central bank of Djibouti, the Bank has been offering a broad range of supports to businesses in Djibouti trading in Ethiopia. The Bank eyes Ethiopia’s growing market niche for both cooperative and individual services, he added.
According to the CEO, the bank has currently opened eight branches in some East Africa countries and wants to expand wings to Ethiopia.
Abdirashid Duale, a British- Somali entrepreneur and the CEO of Dahabshiil international funds transfer company, for his part said that EAB has regional presence providing shari’a based services for a decade in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Djibouti, and Somalia.
As the EAb was previously named as Dahabshiil International Bank, it has also global presence in increasing financial access to the banking communities whether through remittance, supporting finance for SMEs, and providing mobile payment services across the world.
Abdirashid said: “EAB has grown from strength to strength for the last few years; and today we open the other milestone while we installed its head quarter in Djibouti.”
Eliyas Luha, private consultant in finance and investment, commented that the presence of EAB in Ethiopia will have significant importance to facilitate the business and trade relations between Ethiopia and Djibouti interlinked through the port of Djibouti.
In fact, the Bank has been offering remittance services to the household economy and the food security of many Somalis in Ethiopia, Eliyas said.
According to Eliyas, Dahabshiil has the experience in playing the role in innovation and technologically advancement especially in the field of remittances and telecommunications.
It was learned that since the Ethiopian government closed the door for foreign banks to open branches in the country, EAB has currently got the permission to work solely as a correspondent with some Ethiopian private banks.
The Ethiopian Herald April 14 2019
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
