22 July 2017
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
By Samson Berhane
The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has reshuffled its directors and district managers and has made a raft of changes to its organisational structure. The Bank assigned 16 new directors and three district managers.
The Bank also slashed the number of directors from 33 to 29. It reassigned the 13 directors. The appointment became effective as of the beginning of the new fiscal year.
Among the directors, two are selected to head a loan reviewing committee, which is comprised of 14 experts, and the rest will serve the Bank in various posts.
The reshuffling was made a month after the Bank told all of its employees including directors and branch managers to apply for the post of directors and district managers – a significant step taken to implement its restructuring strategy, which resulted in the removal of four vice presidents (VPs) two and a half months ago.
The restructuring came into effect after the new management of the Bank which is headed by Getahun Nana, replacing Esayas Bahire with the Prime Minister’s order, came on the scene.
The directors were reshuffled after the approval of the Board of Directors, that is chaired by the former Minister of Education, Shiferaw Shigute, according to Hailu Misganaw, acting communications director of the Bank.
To recruit the new executives, a committee comprising of officials as well as the human resources department of the Bank was formed a month ago. During the recruitment process, the committee analysed the educational background, performance and experiences of the applicants for the posts.
DBE was established in 1909 during the reign of Emperor Menelik II as the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Trade. Since then, the Bank had several structural changes including the overhauling of its structure a year ago, which was the major restructuring carried out in a 13-year period.
This year, following the implementation of the restructuring study, it replaced its four VPs with Haileyesus Bekele as vice president of Credit Management; Endalkachew Mihretu as vice president of Finance & Banking Management; Hadush Gebreegziabher as vice president of Corporate Service; and Getachew Waqe as vice president of Project Financing.
Currently, the Bank’s human resource base has reached over 2,500, and its number of branches is 110. A look at its financial statements reveals that the Bank earned 373 million Br, which is two times lower than the preceding fiscal year. In the second edition of the Growth & Transformation Plan, the Bank is targeted to disburse a loan of 112.3 billion Br until 2020.