The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) approved Hailu Alemu, who is currently vice president of Credit and Branch Operations of Nib International Bank SC (NIB), as president along with 11 board members of Addis International Bank SC (AdIB), which is currently under formation.

Hailu has been working as a vice president of NIB for the past five years and is required to resign from his position once the licence or the AdIB is approved. Currently, AdIB is in the final stages of acquiring its licence, with its 5,321 shareholders required to register with the Acts and Civil Status Documents Registration Office.

In addition to the 10 people approved for the board of directors, Hailemelekot Teklegiorgis, former board chairman of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), was approved as the chairman.

"Although the bank is under formation, the submission of the candidates for the presidency and membership of the board of directors is required at the time of application for the bank licence," Frezer Ayelew, team leader of the Bank Directorate of Policy and Licensing of the NBE, told Fortune.

The bank, with 480 cooperatives, 158 idirs (local social associations), and some individuals as founding shareholders, had initially applied for a licence under Addis Cooperative Bank, but was denied by the NBE. With 102 million Br in paid-up capital and 149 million Br in subscribed capital, the bank's application process has taken four months.

Hailu, who has worked as the head of the Market Research and Planning Division and as the deputy manager of credit at the Construction and Business Bank of Ethiopia,(CBBE) will head the bank, which expects to start operations in about a month and half.

The bank is currently in the process of renting building space to be used as its headquarters when it starts operations.