Addis Abeba — The state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) successfully reversed the downward trend in its profit before tax during the recently concluded fiscal year.

The bank achieved a growth rate of 24%, reaching a profit of 25.6 billion birr.

This marks a significant improvement from the previous fiscal year, when the bank's gross profit stood at 20.6 billion birr, reflecting a decrease of 4.7% compared to the year before.

During fiscal year 2023/24, CBE reported total annual revenue of 135.4 billion birr, representing a 13% increase year-over-year.

According to the bank, total deposits also climbed to 1.17 trillion birr during the year. This period also coincided with the bank's customer base surpassing 45 million.

Concurrently, the CBE disbursed a total of 218 billion birr in new loans and advances. Notably, 91% (198 billion birr) of these loans were directed towards the private sector.

Despite achieving significant progress across various financial indicators, CBE encountered several challenges last year, notably a "system glitch" that exposed up to 801.4 million birr to potential misappropriation.

In March 2024, Abie Sano, President of CBE, disclosed that 25,761 of the bank's customers were involved in unauthorized withdrawals from ATMs and digital transfers.

To recover part of the lost funds, the bank resorted to publicly disclosing the personal information of the individuals involved, a move criticized by rights groups as a "flagrant violation of data protection laws and constitutional rights to privacy" in Ethiopia.

In a joint statement issued in June 2024, Access Now and the Centre for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) demanded that CBE immediately retract the published private data and cease its "public shaming" campaign.

In response to this demand, the CBE discontinued the campaign.

In a recent statement, the bank announced it had successfully recovered 99.3% (796.6 million birr) of the lost funds.