As Part Of The Country’s Ambitious Reform Plan
As part of Ethiopia’s ambitious Homegrown Economic Reform Plan, the Standard Bank Group was honoured to offer about 100 Ethiopian executives an in-depth conference on accessing capital markets.
From 6-7 April, Standard Bank offered the Ethiopian Capital Market Conference at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, overseen by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform Plan was launched by the Government of Ethiopia in 2019 and was subsequently endorsed by the IMF with a financial assistance of US$3 billion, in a bid to ensure macroeconomic stability and transform the Ethiopian economy. The reform program has three pillars, including macroeconomic, structural and sectoral reforms.
Ultimately, the plan seeks to protect social spending and reduce poverty, promote public-private sector partnerships, and create a vibrant Ethiopian financial sector.
During the conference’s opening speech, H.E. Governor Yinager Dessie acknowledged the importance of the private sector in developing capital markets.
“We need and expect the private sector to participate in the capital market actively as issuers, investors, service providers, and market infrastructure providers. On our end, we are launching training and awareness creation campaigns in collaboration with our partners so that the local private sector understands the opportunities and challenges of participating in the capital market,” says Governor Dessie.
“The Ethiopian Capital Market Conference is part of the various capacity building initiatives ensuring that local corporates can fully tap into the opportunities presented by Ethiopia’s capital markets,” says Melesse Tashu, Senior Macroeconomic Advisor to Governor of National Bank of Ethiopia.
In a series of sessions throughout the conference, about 100 participants were trained in business planning, corporate governance, bank funding, private equity, tapping into capital markets, with a particular focus on initial public offering (IPO), and more.
“We were honoured to work with a group that was so eager to learn, to enhance their own business’ capabilities, and who helped us further understand the economic landscape of Ethiopia. East Africa is rife with investment potential, and if we harness these opportunities, we can promote economic growth and development across the region, and transform the lives of the people living there,” says Taitu Wondwosen, Head of Standard Bank Ethiopia.
The conference precedes the historic launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange in the coming year or so.
About Standard Bank Group
Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets, operating in 20 African countries and 5 global financial centres. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, we are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with share code SBK, and the Namibian Stock Exchange, share code SNB. Standard Bank has a 158-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise outside southern Africa in the early 1990s.
Our strategic position, which enables us to connect Africa to other select emerging markets as well as pools of capital in developed markets, and our balanced portfolio of businesses, provide significant opportunities for growth.
The group has over 46 000 employees excluding Liberty, more than 1 143 branches and over 6 600 ATMs on the African continent, which enable it to deliver a complete range of services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking and wealth management.
Headline earnings for the twelve months to 31 December 2021 (FY21) were R25.0 billion, Return on equity (ROE) was 13.5%. Standard Bank’s market capitalisation as of 31 December 2021 was R228 billion (USD14 billion).
The group’s largest shareholder is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank, with a 20.1% shareholding. In addition, Standard Bank Group and ICBC share a strategic partnership that facilitates trade and deal flow between Africa, China and select emerging markets.
For further information, go to http://www.standardbank.com