Enat Bank Disburses 1.4 billion Birr in Collateral-Free Loans to Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia

Registering unprecedented early adoption rates in less than a year, Enat Bank S.C. reported disbursing 1.4 billion Birr collateral-free loans to nearly 22,000 women entrepreneurs through its Malefiya digital credit platform. Powered by Qena, an artificial intelligence-backed digital credit score assessing tool by Kifiya Financial Technologies, the platform has received quick reception from women-owned small and medium enterprises. 

The Bank, with a name that translates to mother in Amharic, announced the figures at the Hilton Hotel as it received an award from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) for significant advances in bridging gender gaps in the financial sector. Its focus on gender inclusion, exhibited through a 55% female to male composition in the board of directors, also received props from the central bank.

Aster Solomon, Board Chairwoman at Enat Bank, attributed the early success of Malefiya to a general meticulous tendency by mothers in managing their money. She stressed the importance of financial innovation alongside a mass awareness campaign for further gains in financial inclusion.

“There are lots of women in the country who still need similar types of loans,” Aster noted.

Gender disparities in financial access persist across Ethiopia, as depicted in a World Bank report from last year, which showed that men were 1.5 times more likely to get a loan than women.

Martha Hailemariam, advisor at NBE, reinforced the notion by indicating that women had around 150% less access to financial services than men in Ethiopia. She pointed out that Enat Bank managed to secure the central bank’s award by scoring 4.6 out of 5 in its gender scorecard.

“Significant constraints continue to impede gender inclusivity in our country’s finance sector,” Martha said.

She also recalled how NBE’s launch of the Network of Ethiopian Women in Finance last year aimed to bring about increased representation in leadership roles. Women’s increased access to finance and representation in financial institution leadership are one of the major targets of Ethiopia’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy II (2021–2025).

Enat Bank’s founding history is rooted in bridging gender gaps with the 11 women who steered its formation, ensuring 64% ownership by women from around 8,000 shareholders. Well before the launch of Malefiya, the Bank was offering special savings accounts, credit guarantees, and non-financial service support to women.

Still, Enat Bank has managed to stay neck and neck with industry peers in terms of other banking metrics, reporting 555 million Birr net profits in the last financial year. The Bank, which operates from over 200 branches nationwide, also provides interest-free services in above 90 % of them.