Shareholders representing about 35 percent of Anbesa Bank’s paid-up capital have petitioned for an urgent meeting with National Bank of Ethiopia Governor Eyob Tekalign. The request follows the central bank’s revocation of its approval for the election of the bank’s board of directors.
The National Bank of Ethiopia withdrew its June 8 approval letter to the Documents Authentication and Registration Service on June 19. It upheld all resolutions from the bank’s October 2025 general assembly except those concerning the board election and directed the bank to hold a fresh election this month.
Anbesa Bank’s board appealed the decision, but the regulator rejected the appeal on July 1. Board Chairman Alem Asfaw separately requested a meeting with the governor to present the board’s position.
Shareholders signed their petition on July 4. They stated that the regulator may have been misinformed about internal board disagreements and noted that the bank holds approximately 12 billion birr in non-performing loans linked to borrowers in Tigray.
The NBE confirmed the general assembly’s resolution to raise the bank’s paid-up capital above six billion birr, meeting the five-billion-birr regulatory minimum required by June 30, 2026.
