The Development Bank of Ethiopia plans to lend up to 19 billion ETB in interest-free loans based on Sharia law to launch in July 2022. DBE set up a new specialized interest-free banking department to create guidelines to achieve this. DBE intends to loan the 19 billion ETB in the first year of operation and aims to raise it by 50% for the following year. DBE plans to lend 2 to 45 million ETB to Small & Medium Enterprises and 100 million ETB to large enterprises.
The bank is installing five specialized departments with specific directorates and technical teams to advise clients. The departments include crop finance, livestock, horticulture, and SMEs. It began creating a research and development cluster to study the agricultural and industrial market and development. Furthermore, it set aside 2 billion ETB in provisions to cover losses for business loans it extended in Tigray.
