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Ethiopia: Zemen Bank Eyes Abyssinia's Departing Vice President
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Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
13 April 2008
Posted to the web 14 April 2008
Endale Assefa
The main promoters of Zemen Bank, a company under formation to enter the banking sector, are in hot pursuit to recruit one of the two vice presidents at the Bank of Abyssinia (BoA).
Chanyalew Yilma, vice president for administration and finance of the Bank, is negotiating with Ermias Amelga, chief promoter of Zemen Bank, and its prospective president Tecle Alemneh. At press time on Saturday, though, no final deal had been made for him to assume a deputy position as Zemen, sources said.
Ermias declined to comment when asked whether or not his bank has made any progress in the negotiation.
Chanyalew has already tendered his resignation letter to the bank's board of directors on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, for reasons he declined to discuss when approached by Fortune. He told Fortune he would rather the president of the bank disclose what prompted him to leave Abyssinia. Asselefech Mulugeta, president of Bank of Abyssinia, was also unavailable for comment.
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The two had been contending to claim the bank's top position when the Board of Directors decided to install Asselefech as chief of Abyssinia in February 2007 as its fourth president since its founding in 1997. It was the third private bank to be opened after 131 founding shareholders raised a paid-up capital of 25 million Br; today it commands the highest paid-up capital (265 million Br) among the seven private banks and has mobilized a deposit of over 2.7 billion Br, the third largest, following Awash International Bank and Dashen Bank. Its return on equity (13.5) is also the third largest, after Dashen and Awash.
The possible departure of Chanyalew from Abyssinia has created panic within top shareholders of the bank, according to reliable sources. There are efforts to persuade him change his mind, these sources said.
A father of one child and in his mid-40s, Chanyalew has been serving the Bank as vice president for two years, after he left the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). During his years at the CBE, Chanyalew had served as secretary of the board of directors under the chairmanship of Philipos W. Mariam, who is now chairman at the Bank of Abyssinia. While at the CBE, Chanyalew was project coordinator at the IT office. He was also working as a coordinator of a task-force for foreclosure before he was promoted to assistant vice president for administration and finance, the position he held last at the state owned bank.
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