Pour the buna. This week’s number is 23.
That is how many companies the Ethiopian Securities Exchange has in its pipeline for this fiscal year: 15 for the equity market and 8 for the over-the-counter market. ESX’s Yodit Kassa gave the figure at a webinar on October 28. She also said the exchange is operating but has not yet delivered its intended value.
The rest of the week showed what a deeper market could draw on. General-assembly season brought the year’s numbers to shareholders: Awash Bank reported more than 624 billion birr in assets and Dashen 350 billion birr, and Dashen is waiting on a licence for an investment banking unit. Hibret Insurance lifted its surplus by 36.98%, and Nyala Insurance says its paid-up capital has passed 2 billion birr. The central bank sold another $140 million, Dangote picked a Spanish supplier for its Gode fertiliser complex, and a Nasdaq-listed miner is weighing whether to walk away from an 80MW site.
Here is the week.
Capital Market
Dashen Bank waits on licence for an investment banking unit
Dashen Bank has finished its paperwork and is recruiting specialists for a dedicated investment banking unit, CEO Asfaw Alemu told shareholders at the bank’s 33rd ordinary and 29th extraordinary meetings on October 29, Birrmetrics reports. The unit would underwrite IPOs, advise on mergers and acquisitions and facilitate securities trading.
“We are seeking skilled individuals for the investment bank, as the market currently lacks experienced professionals,” Asfaw said. Chairman Dulla Mekonnen said the unit is positioned to launch shortly, but gave no date. Until it is licensed, the unit will sit inside the bank.
The report does not say which regulator is reviewing the application. Dashen already owns a separate subsidiary, Dashen Capital, that offers investment banking and securities services; how the two will divide the work has not been explained. Dashen’s shares have traded on the ESX main board since February 23, 2026.
Open on paper: who moves first into Ethiopian banking?
Foreign investors can now own up to 49% of an Ethiopian bank. A webinar hosted by Precise Consult and Africa International Advisors on October 28 asked the next question: who commits first, and what do they need to see?
- Hasnayn Ebrahim (Africa International Advisors) called the ownership rules a milestone, but said liquidity and regulation come first for investors.
- Rachel Freeman (Tyme) listed what an operator weighs before entering a market: progressive regulation including cloud operations and digital eKYC, local talent, a route to national reach, and the ability to repatriate profits.
- Yodit Kassa (ESX) said the exchange is operating but has not yet delivered its intended value. The pipeline for this fiscal year includes 15 companies for the equity market and 8 for the OTC market.
Digital ID and interoperable payments are already live. Cloud operations, capital repatriation and the balance between state and private banks remain unclear. No foreign bank was named as a likely first mover.
Banking & FX
Awash Bank reports assets above 624 billion birr
Awash Bank closed the 2025/26 fiscal year with total assets of more than 624 billion birr, board chair Gure Kumsa told the bank’s 31st ordinary and 19th extraordinary general meeting at Skylight Hotel. Deposits reached 469.3 billion birr and loans and advances passed 274.1 billion birr.
The bank reported revenue of 84.6 billion birr, gross profit of 38.3 billion birr and foreign currency earnings of more than $2.6 billion. It paid 15.77 billion birr in income tax and has more than 1,010 branches and 20,658 employees.
The disclosure gave no prior-year figures and no net profit, so growth rates cannot be worked out from it.
Dashen Bank’s assets climb 37.4% to 350 billion birr
Dashen Bank’s total assets reached 350 billion birr for the year to June 30, 2026, up 37.4% from 254.5 billion birr, according to a company press release. Total income rose 49.2% to 47 billion birr and profit before tax came in at 15.2 billion birr. Deposits grew 37% to 280 billion birr.
The bank added 1.35 million customers to pass 9 million, and its Super App handled 309 billion birr across 29.4 million transactions. The release gives no net profit, loan book or capital adequacy figure, and no prior-year profit to compare against.
| Bank (FY to June 30, 2026) | Total assets | Deposits | Income | Profit reported | FX earnings |
| Awash Bank | 624+ bn birr | 469.3 bn birr | 84.6 bn birr | 38.3 bn birr (gross) | $2.6+ bn |
| Dashen Bank | 350 bn birr | 280 bn birr | 47 bn birr | 15.2 bn birr (pre-tax) | $1.4+ bn |
The two banks report profit on different lines, so the profit column is not a like-for-like comparison.
Dashen and EIB Global sign €20 million SME memorandum
Dashen Bank and EIB Global, the development arm of the European Investment Bank, signed a memorandum of understanding for €20 million in financing for Ethiopian SMEs. The focus is agriculture, value chains, green investment and women’s economic participation.
An MoU is a statement of intent rather than a signed loan. No terms, pricing, disbursement timeline or target number of businesses were disclosed.
Cooperative Bank of Oromia and Kifiya launch Michu Mizan
Cooperative Bank of Oromia and Kifiya Financial Technologies launched Michu Mizan, a Sharia-compliant digital financing product for micro, small and medium enterprises and smallholder farmers. The bank provides the financing, Kifiya provides AI-based risk assessment, and customers source goods through HalalGebeya.
Kifiya says the pilot disbursed more than 200 million birr to over 4,000 businesses. Those figures are the company’s own. Pricing, eligibility and the rollout timeline were not published.
Banks pay 159.70 birr per dollar at the 31st auction
The National Bank of Ethiopia sold $140 million on October 27 at an average winning rate of 159.70 birr per dollar, down from 160.11 birr two weeks earlier. Thirty banks bid a combined $150.83 million and 28 received dollars.
| NBE dollar sale | Offered | Bids | Average rate (birr) | Cut-off (birr) | Banks bidding / winning |
| 27 Oct (31st) | $140M | $150.83M | 159.70 | 158.18 | 30 / 28 |
| 13 Oct | $140M | $152.09M | 160.11 | 158.17 | 29 / 26 |
| 23 Sep | $125M | $123.49M | 160.23 | 158.07 | 27 / 27 |
The average rate has now eased for two sales in a row while the cut-off has barely moved. Two of the six $140 million sales planned for October to December are done; the next are on November 10 and 24.
Deposit insurance premiums up 25.48% in Q1
The Ethiopian Deposit Insurance Fund collected 2.61 billion birr in premiums in the first quarter of 2026/27, up 25.48% year on year, Birrmetrics reports. The fund attributes the rise to deposit growth at its 97 members: 31 commercial banks and 66 microfinance institutions.
Reserves stood at 27.43 billion birr at the end of 2025/26, mostly invested in Treasury bills. Cover remains 100,000 birr per depositor per institution, which the fund says protects about 97% of depositors. Inflation and the weaker birr have eroded what that limit is worth in real terms.
Insurance
Hibret Insurance lifts surplus 36.98%
Hibret Insurance reported a pre-tax surplus of 1.38 billion birr for the year to June 30, 2026, up 36.98% from the year before. Premiums across life, non-life and general Takaful rose 24.18% to 3.42 billion birr.
The figures were presented at the company’s 32nd ordinary and 16th extraordinary general assembly on October 19 at Skylight Hotel. The board chairman credited the board, management and staff, along with expanded operations.
He also said Hibret was the first insurer to have its company and share registration approved by the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, on June 29. The report does not give claims, total assets, paid-up capital or the prior-year surplus in birr.
Nyala Insurance passes 2 billion birr in paid-up capital
Nyala Insurance says its paid-up capital is now above 2 billion birr, up from 7 million birr when it was founded 30 years ago. Its unaudited profit for the latest year exceeded 1 billion birr, and total assets are over 7 billion birr, according to CEO Yared Molla (PhD).
The company says it has paid more than 1.7 billion birr in taxes over the past 15 years. It unveiled a new logo and a modernisation programme it calls “Nyala Reimagined,” which replaces branches with more than 50 “Customer Homes” and adds a Claims Concierge Service.
The profit figure is unaudited, and Nyala did not disclose premium income, claims or year-on-year comparisons. Audited numbers should follow at its general assembly.
Energy, Industry & Policy
Dangote picks Spain’s Técnicas Reunidas for Gode fertiliser reformers
Dangote Group has awarded Spain’s Técnicas Reunidas a contract to supply two hydrogen reformers for its planned fertiliser complex in Gode, Somali Region. The units, built on technology licensed from Denmark’s Topsoe, will have a combined capacity above 200,000 normal cubic metres per hour. Delivery is scheduled within 18 months.
The complex is designed to produce 3 million tonnes of urea a year from Calub and Hilala gas. Its estimated cost has risen from $2.5 billion at the August 2025 shareholders’ agreement to more than $4 billion, reflecting added gas transport, power and fertiliser infrastructure. Dangote holds 60% and Ethiopian Investment Holdings 40%.
The contract value was not disclosed. An equipment award does not fix a completion date or the start of commercial production.
BitFuFu weighs exit from 80MW Ethiopian mining deal
Nasdaq-listed BitFuFu is considering terminating its planned majority acquisition of an 80MW Bitcoin mining facility in Ethiopia, EBR reports. The facility’s operator is in an unresolved payment dispute with its local electricity supplier.
According to BitFuFu, the operator received a ten-day notice on September 28 demanding payment of disputed amounts and warning that pledged equipment could be seized. To the company’s knowledge, the debt was not settled when the deadline passed, and the deal’s closing conditions have not been met.
BitFuFu first announced the deal on October 22, 2024. It has paid $4.1 million to the sellers and deployed about 13,700 Antminer S19-series machines, worth 1.57 EH/s of hashrate and a net book value of $1.74 million as of September 30. It is reviewing termination, arbitration against the sellers, recovery of payments and return of its machines.
CEO Leo Lu said local power curtailment was already reflected in earlier results and expects limited further impact on production. The company had cited power below $0.04 per kWh as a main reason for coming to Ethiopia. BitFuFu says it is not a direct party to the power dispute; the supplier has not been named.
Ethiopian Electric Utility opens 11 EV charging stations
Ethiopian Electric Utility inaugurated 11 EV charging stations, taking its network to 14, in Bishoftu, Mojo, Adama, Batu, Hawassa and five sites in Addis Ababa. The 14 stations can charge about 150 vehicles at once.
Phase one targets 40 stations at an estimated cost of about $10 million. The utility says Addis Ababa alone would need about 1,176 stations to meet current demand. Time-of-use tariffs run from about 14.85 birr per kWh overnight to 18.28 birr at peak.
Official counts of electric vehicles in the country disagree, ranging from above 115,000 to more than 140,000. The utility also signed an MoU with Huawei, China Road and Bridge Corporation and Beijing Forever Technology for a six-month study of heavy-truck charging on the Ethio-Djibouti corridor.
Addis Ababa puts 26 natural gas buses on the road
Addis Ababa has deployed 26 natural gas-powered public buses, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on October 30. The buses are converted existing vehicles, supported by new refuelling infrastructure, and 400 more are planned.
The government says lower operating costs will allow a 50% cut in fares. No fare schedule, routes, start date or cost for the 26 buses has been published, and the 400-bus plan has no timetable or financing yet. How it relates to the city’s earlier 1.4 billion birr plan to convert 1,200 buses has not been explained.
New minister tells telecom regulator to weigh the cost of its rules
Frehiwot Tamru, the new Innovation and Technology Minister, told the Ethiopian Communications Authority to weigh each regulatory requirement against its costs and benefits and remove “unnecessary administrative burdens” that slow network expansion.
She also asked the regulator to hold regular forums with operators and consumers, make more use of market data, review postal regulation urgently and prepare a five-year strategic plan. The ministry statement named no specific rules for revision and gave no timetable.
📊 New from StockMarket.et Insights: FY2025/26 Listed Companies White Paper
“Growth on Paper, Repricing on the Exchange”
We went through the audited results of all seven companies listed on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (Awash Bank, Bank of Abyssinia, Abay Bank, Wegagen Bank, Gadaa Bank, Sidama Bank and Ethio telecom) and the macro forces behind them.
Results went up. Prices went down. The report sets out the facts behind both.
📥 Download the full report or read it online here
This report is for information and education only and is not financial advice.
💡 Weekly Tip: Audited vs. Unaudited
This is the season when companies tell shareholders how the year went. Not every number carries the same weight.
- Unaudited figures are management’s own count. They can change once the auditors finish. Nyala’s “over 1 billion birr” profit this week is unaudited.
- Audited figures have been checked by an independent external auditor, who signs an opinion on whether the statements are fairly presented.
- Press release numbers are a selection. Look for what is left out: net profit, prior-year comparisons, loan quality, capital adequacy.
When you compare companies, compare the same line. Gross profit, pre-tax profit and net profit are three different numbers.
For information only. Not investment advice.
🗓️ On the Calendar
- November 10: NBE foreign exchange auction ($140 million)
- November 24: NBE foreign exchange auction ($140 million)
- December 8 and 22: the last two of the six scheduled 2026 auctions
🎧 On our weekly Educational Content
How does a securities market keep trading smoothly? And what happens when a buyer and a seller don’t meet at the same moment?
In this week’s new episode, we look at securities market makers: who they are, how they work, and the role they play in keeping the market liquid by standing ready to buy and sell.
▶️ Watch here:
The ESX counted 23 companies in its pipeline, and Awash reported more than 624 billion birr in assets and Dashen 350 billion birr as the general-assembly season brought the year’s numbers to shareholders. Hibret Insurance and Nyala Insurance posted gains, Dashen lined up an investment banking unit and a €20 million SME memorandum, and the central bank’s dollar price eased again. Dangote ordered equipment for a fertiliser complex now costed above $4 billion, BitFuFu weighed walking away from an 80MW site, and Addis Ababa added EV chargers and natural gas buses.
See you next Monday ☕