Lion’s Departure Sees Third Ethiopian Bank President Resign in Fortnight
By Fasika Tadesse, Addis Fortune
Previously, both the Bank of Abyssinia and the Debub Global Bank had waved goodbye to their presidents.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Negusu Gebregziabher has resigned from his job as President of Debub Global Bank, making him the third bank executive in the industry to leave a top post in the last two weeks.
The operations vice president, Getachew Solomon, has taken over as acting president since September 1, 2014.
The same day also saw acting presidents taking over at the Abyssinia and Debub Global banks as well, following the acceptance of the resignation of their respective presidents. Addisu left Abyssinia in favour of the same position, albeit with better benefits, at Debub Global, relieving in a week’s time the acting president, Tsehaynesh Abay, who is vice president for finance & accounts. Tsehaynesh was filling in following the resignation of founding president Worku Lema. Mulugeta Asmare, operations vice president, is filling as acting president in the post Addisu vacated at Abyssinia.
Lion’s board of directors, chaired by Berhanu Gebremedhin(phd), accepted Negusu’s resignation and assigned his temporary replacement on August 28, 2014.
Getachew, the acting president, has a BA Degree in accounting from Mekelle University (MU) and obtained his Masters of Business Administration from Greenwich University, England, by specialising in International Business. He has worked in the banking industry for 19 years. He started his career with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), rising through the ranks of bank clerk, corporate communication, branch manager and district manager. He has been working as operations vice president for the LIB for the last year.
Negusu, an economics graduate from Addis Abeba University (AAU), has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration also from Greenwich University, England, by specialising in International Business, like his successor Getachew. He has been in the Banking industry for the last 18 years, of which for 15 he worked at the CBE in different positions, including vice president, branch manager and district manager, and as a president for the last four years.
The LIB was established in October 2006 and officially inaugurated in January 2007, with 6,392 shareholders and 200 million Br in paid-up and 432 million Br in subscribed capital – this is now up to 448 million Br and 568 million Br, respectively. Currently, the Bank has 63 branches, where it employs 870 permanent and 580 temporary and outsourced workers.
The Bank’s profit has been growing over the past three years, increasing from a profit after tax of 75.4 million Br, to 111.3 million Br and now 127 million Br.
The former president, Negussu, took the presidency in May 2010, following the resignation of Meressa Gebremariam, the bank’s second president. The first president was Tsegaye Tetemke, who stayed in the job for two years.
Source: Addis Fortune
