Addis Ababa — In early April, when KCB Group announced they are undergoing talks to acquire stakes in Ethiopian lenders, it was easy to sense a feeling of déjà-vu. The second largest bank in Kenya already made plans to expand to Ethiopia back in 2018 but was forced to put them on hold in 2020 due to the situation in the country. Now, KCB is coming back to the plan with renewed vigor and finds itself in a completely different environment than before. What a difference three years make!
Most of the people living today in Ethiopia never had the chance to bank with foreign financial institutions due to the rigid regulations in the country that were put in place since 1974. It was almost 50 years ago when the East African country last allowed foreign financial institutions to operate within its borders. That is about to change as the government’s recent efforts to liberalize the banking market in the country are coming into effect.
After years of delays, Ethiopia’s road to banking liberalization…
