Eyob Tekalign Appointed as 11th Governor of Ethiopia’s Central Bank

Two weeks after the abrupt departure of Mamo Mihretu, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has appointed Eyob Tekalign (PhD) as the new governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). Momo resigned in early this month after serving since January 2023. 

Stepping in from his role as State Minister of Finance, Eyob Tekalign Tolina becomes the 11th governor of Ethiopia’s central bank, a post at the heart of the country’s monetary stability and reform agenda. In his previous roles, he was instrumental in shaping fiscal policy and national planning, including the Home-Grown Economic Reform program.

At the helm of NBE, Eyob inherits daunting challenges: persistent double-digit inflation, chronic foreign-exchange shortages, and a financial sector still in the early stages of liberalization. 

Restoring creditors' confidence, stabilizing the macroeconomy, cracking down on the parallel foreign exchange market, doubling down on digital payment adoption, and delivering on Ethiopia’s IMF programme will be among his immediate priorities.

Eyob brings more than two decades of experience spanning government, the private sector, and international institutions. He has held board seats at the NBE, Ethiopian Investment Holdings, Ethio Telecom, and Ethiopian Electric Power, while also chairing regulatory and oversight bodies such as the Ethiopian Roads Authority, the Accounting and Audit Board, and the Public Procurement Agency.

His career has also bridged diplomacy and global finance: he served as Minister Counselor at Ethiopia’s embassy in Washington, D.C., advised Ethiopia’s representatives at the IMF and World Bank, and worked as a consultant to multinational companies. Before rejoining the government in 2018, he spent three years as director at SGI Frontier Capital, a U.S.-based private equity firm focused on frontier markets. He holds a master’s degree from George Washington University and a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Maryland.