Development Bank of Ethiopia

Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) is a specialized state owned development financial institution, which is supervised by the Public Financial Enterprises Agency. A Board of Management (BOM) consisting of seven senior government officials administers the Bank. The President of the Bank also attends the regular meetings of the BOM as a non-voting member. The two top bodies (Public Enterprises for Financial Agency (PEFA) and BOM are, among others, responsible for issuing major policies of the Bank, approval of its strategic and operational plans as well as the close and regular monitoring of the Bank’s operations. The top Executive Management Committee (EMC), which consists of the President and Six Vice Presidents, is a direct responsible body to oversee the overall operations of the Bank. The President chairs the EMC and acts as an official representative of the Bank. Fifty two management members are, on the other hand, responsible for the day-to-day management of the Bank’s operational activities. Pertaining to good governance, the Bank’s management is structured in transparent way and those decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations with developed policies and procedures. The Bank’s BOM has established separate Compliance and Risk Management and Internal Audit Directorates for the effective implementation of policies and procedures. Ethical Conduct and Complaint Management is also part of DBE’s culture. Accordingly, the Bank has Ethics and Compliant Management Office under the direct supervision of the President. .

The Development Bank of Ethiopia was the first development finance institution in Ethiopia and as such it was designed to: "(a) assist in the development of industrial and agricultural production... (and) (b) foster the investment of private capital for productive purposes..."

The goal of this bank is to promote economic development via financing commerce, industry, agriculture, and manufacturing. Each period of Ethiopian political history has used the bank for different purposes. Thus, the bank has changed its name several times:

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The bank was established in 1909 as The Societe Nationale d'Ethiopie Pour le Development de l'agriculture et de Commerce. In 1945, the Agricultural Bank was established but was replaced by the Development Bank in 1951. In 1970, the bank was temporarily renamed to the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank but was renamed back to the Development Bank of Ethiopia in 1994.

The geographical distribution of projects financed by the Development Bank also indicates the uneven regional development of the country. Nearly 57 percent of the industrial projects financed by the Bank which was located in or around Addis Ababa. The larger cities in the three provinces of Shewa (excluding Addis Ababa), Harrar and Eritrea accounted for nearly 36 percent of industrial loans in number and absorbed over 50 percent of the total value of industrial loans. As regards agriculture, the three provinces of Kaffa, Illubabor, and Sidamo received slightly over 49 percent of the total value of agricultural loans and accounted for over 47 percent of the total number. These three provinces are in the coffee producing regions of Ethiopia.