Gada Bank Becomes Second Bank to List on Ethiopia’s Securities Exchange

Ethiopia’s five-month-old securities exchange is preparing to launch trading activities and has welcomed its second bank to the roster of listed companies. At a ceremony held at the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) headquarters on Monday afternoon, Gada Bank S.C. announced its official listing, following the approval of its prospectus by the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA) last week. The bank has registered over 1.23 million shares for its listing by introduction at the country’s maiden exchange, with each share carrying a par value of around 1,000 Birr. 

The two-year old bank founded by 28,000 shareholders worked with ESX officials over the past four months to ensure compliance, transparency and the finalization of its prospectus document.

Wolde Bulto, CEO of Gada Bank, expressed his hopes that the listing will unlock opportunities for capital formation and expand liquidity. He expects the listing to enable the Bank to introduce innovative products that address the diverse needs of their customer base.

“We have registered all our shares as of June 17 last week,” Wolde told Shega.

Gada managed to turn a profit in its first year of operations and has maintained rapid growth and expansion of its assets. The Bank raised its paid up capital to around 1.07 billion Birr in the last financial year while its assets grew to 5.6 Billion Birr.

Board Chairman Hassen Hussien (PhD), said the Bank’s listing further underscores its aspirations of transparency and footing in communal ownership. 

“Inclusivity and a strong foundation are our ethos like the Warkaa tree,” he said, referring to the iconic symbol of resilience and shelter in Ethiopian culture.

Tilahun E. Kassahun (PhD ), CEO of ESX, commended the bank for its swift adaptation to the exchange’s regulatory framework and shared recent developments from the market. He highlighted the successful pilot trading of dematerialized government securities conducted in the past week and the role of the Central Securities Depository (CSD) in facilitating interbank lending, now totaling over 800 billion Birr in transfers.

“Government securities will soon be traded be on the exchange,” Tilahun said.

He also noted increased momentum in the emerging capital market, with two investment banks and other service providers recently registering to participate

Wegagen Bank S.C was the first Ethiopian company to list on the Exchange with 6.2 million shares followed by the formerly fully state owned ethio telecom.