Ethiopian Ministry of Justice Reveals Massive Fraud in Banking Sector: Nearly Two Billion Birr Lost

The Ethiopian banking sector has faced a significant setback following the revelation of nearly two billion Birr in fraudulent activities. The Ministry of Justice disclosed this information in a recent study that gathered data from financial institutions.

Fraudulent Activities in the Banking Sector

• Two billion Birr lost due to fraudulent activities (Half of which was incurred by the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia [CBE] and 17% by the Bank of Abyssinia)
• Intricate nature of crimes presents challenges in apprehending perpetrators and recovering stolen funds
• Since 2017, fraud attempts against banks reached an estimated 370 billion Br
• Officials and employees of banks and personnel from Ethio telecom were involved in the fraud

Development in the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is considering adding salt as the 24th tradable commodity. This decision follows a feasibility study and preparation of sales contracts. Previously, regional salt miners and processors reportedly had not been adequately compensated for their production. Officially launching the exchange of salt aims to provide these producers with a fairer market.

Training for Data Privacy and Protection

Staff members from the National Bank of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration, and the Ministry of Revenues received a three-day training on data privacy and protection. This initiative was taken to equip the staff with the necessary skills to safeguard personal data during transmission.

Scaling up Six Financial Institutions and MSME Lending

A 100 million-dollar program was launched to scale up six financial institutions: Cooperative Bank of Oromia (COOP), Amhara, Bunna, Enat, Wegagen, and ZamZam banks. This program supports the digital non-collateral lending platform called Michu, which previously disbursed 946 million Br in loans to farmers and MSMEs in the past year.