Ethiopia · Financial institution
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is a state-owned bank headquartered in Addis Ababa. Its shares are held by Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the state's sovereign wealth fund. It provides retail, corporate, trade and interest-free banking services through a national branch network and digital channels. Its history goes back to the State Bank of Ethiopia, founded in 1942. It became a separate share company in 1963, and Addis Bank was merged into it in 1980.
Licences and registrations
Matched by LEI on the 22 tracked registers
None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registers.
- The tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
- BIC
- CBETETAAXXX head office
- Connection to Swift
- Connected to SwiftThis BIC is registered as a live address on the Swift network. The institution sends and receives Swift messages under CBETETAA directly.
- Swift GPI
- Not on the member list
- Payment schemes and systems
- No entry in the EPC registers, the ECB T2 and TIPS lists or the SIX Bank Master cites this BIC
- Branch codes
- 8 branch codes
- BIC first registered
- 1995-05-01
- Last updated
- 2025-07-20
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Employees
Not published
Ownership
State-owned
Ethiopian Investment Holdings
Institution type
Commercial bank
Trades as CBE
- Ownership
- The bank is owned by the Ethiopian state and sits in the portfolio of Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the state's sovereign wealth fund.
- Direct parent
- Ethiopian Investment Holdings, Ethiopia
- Ultimate owner
- Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ethiopia
- Head office
- Ras Desta Damtew St, 01, Kirkos, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Name in the local language
- የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ
Business lines
According to the bank's 2025/26 results statement, it held 50.1% of Ethiopia's deposits and 48.3% of outstanding loans, and it offers interest-free banking under the CBE Noor brand.
Online
- Websites & references
- combanketh.et ↗
cbeib.cbe.com.et ↗ internet banking portal (linked from homepage)
Wikipedia ↗ - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗ · Telegram ↗ · TikTok ↗
Sources · 15 pages consulted
- combanketh.et/home
- combanketh.et/about-us/executive-management
- combanketh.et/about-us/board-of-directors
- combanketh.et/cbe-resources/publications/annual-report
- thereporterethiopia.com/52667/
- birrmetrics.com/commercial-bank-of-ethiopia-profit-sovereign/
- stockmarket.et/commercial-bank-of-ethiopia-reports-record-80-billion-birr-profit-2-4-trillion-birr-depos
- stockmarket.et/commercial-bank-of-ethiopias-total-deposits-surpass-2-trillion-birr/
- addisfortune.news/news-alert/ahmed-shide-replaces-teklewold-atnafu-chairman-of-the-state-owned-commercial-b
- addisfortune.news/investment-holdings-revamps-cbes-boardroom
- stockmarket.et/ethiopian-investment-holdings-launches-broad-governance-overhaul-across-state-enterprises
- cnbcafrica.com/2024/commercial-bank-of-ethiopia-recovers-11-mln-lost-in-system-glitch
- apanews.net/commercial-bank-of-ethiopia-rubbishes-reports-on-cheating-of-56-mln/
- combanketh.et/uploads/Flayer_Remittance_Services_04_8ec1f2dd33_a05dbe7e7e.pdf
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Bank_of_Ethiopia
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Chief executive
- Abie Sano President
- Chair
- Ahmed Shide Chairperson of the Board of Directors
- Executive
- Ephrem Mekuria Senior Vice President, Corporate Services
- Executive
- Dereje Fufa Vice President, Business
Supervisors & regulators
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Ethiopia
- National Bank of Ethiopia Central bankPrudential supervisorAML supervisorForeign exchange
Recent events 2 enforcement or investigation items
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Other
The board approved audited 2024/25 statements showing ETB 92.85 billion of additional state capital and an ETB 36.71 billion foreign-exchange loss.
birrmetrics.com ↗ -
Incident
The bank stated that its internal controls detected and stopped an attempted illegal transfer of funds, and that no money was transferred.
apanews.net ↗ -
Incident
A system error let customers withdraw or transfer about ETB 801 million beyond their balances, and the bank then recovered most of it.
cnbcafrica.com ↗ -
Leadership
The Prime Minister appointed Finance Minister Ahmed Shide as chair of the board, succeeding Teklewold Atnafu.
addisfortune.news ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, incidents, leadership changes, mergers and licence changes. Each links to its source.
Identifiers
Head-office record
- BIC
- CBETETAAXXX
- How the BIC breaks down
- CBETBank
- ETCountry · Ethiopia
- AALocation
- XXXBranch · head office
- Branch description
- Not recorded in the directory
- LEI
- 254900J7HJSTWB7JFW86
- LEI record
- View on GLEIF ↗
- How the LEI was matched
- BIC: Mapped to this BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.
Profile
- Type
- Financial institutionClassified as a financial institution in Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, with no licence on a tracked register. This includes banks that neither the ECB nor the FSB lists, as well as brokers, fund managers, insurers and market infrastructure.
- Regulation
- Not on a tracked registerNo licence or registration was found for this entity on the registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
- Register licences
- None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registersThe tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
- Country · region
- Ethiopia · Sub-Saharan Africa
- Trading venues (MIC)
- No MIC registered under this LEI list of 2026-09-17
- OFAC sanctions
- No listing cites this BIC
- EU sanctions
- No listing matched this BIC or its LEI
- Country sanctions
- No country programme
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
No licence or registration was found for this entity on the 22 registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
GLEIF’s relationship records name no parent for this LEI, and no group page is published for it.
Addresses
- Registered address
- RAS DESTA DAMTEW ST, 01,KIRKOS ADDIS ABEBA 255 ETHIOPIA
- Operational address
- RAS DESTA DAMTEW ST, 01, KIRKOS ADDIS ABABA N/ A ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
A CBPR+ message identifies this institution by its BIC, and may add its LEI or a clearing code. CBPR+ does not allow a name and postal address next to a BIC.
- Identified by
- BIC, with its LEI
- Roles in CBPR+
- Any agent, including the instructing and instructed agents
CBPR+
For cross-border payments on Swift: the BIC, with the LEI and clearing code where known
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>CBETETAAXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>254900J7HJSTWB7JFW86</LEI>
</FinInstnId>Full record
Every ISO 20022 element the directory holds. Base ISO 20022 allows them together. CBPR+ does not allow a name and address next to a BIC
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>CBETETAAXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>254900J7HJSTWB7JFW86</LEI>
<Nm>COMMERCIAL BANK OF ETHIOPIA</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<Ctry>ET</Ctry>
<AdrLine>RAS DESTA DAMTEW ST, 01, KIRKOS ADDIS ABEBA 255</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>Swift’s two address fields do not agree on a town, so the full record gives the address as address lines only.
The BIC, name and address are as published in Swift’s BIC directory. The LEI comes from the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI file. Check them against your own records before use.
Network
Branch network
All 8 branch BICs connect to the head office. They are all in Addis Abeba, and no function or registration year splits them further.
Hover over a branch or group to see its details
Branch codes
| BIC | Branch | City | Address | LEI | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBETETAAARA | ARADA GIORGIS BRANCH | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAADIR | DIRE DAWA MAIN BRANCH | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAADOC | TRADE SERVICE CENTER | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAAFIN | FINFINE BRANCH | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAAIBD | INTERNATIONAL BANKING DEPARTMENT | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAAMEH | MEHAL GEBEYA BRANCH | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAATEM | TEMENJA YAJ BRANCH | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
| CBETETAATRY | TREASURY DEPARTMENT | Addis Abeba | ADDIS ABEBA ADDIS ABEBA ETHIOPIA | — | 2025-07-20 |
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Sources & method
Every value comes from a public source, such as Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, GLEIF or the OFAC and EU sanctions lists. Most sources are matched on a BIC or an LEI, not on a name.
Swift GPI membership is matched on names and is indicative. A missing sanctions match does not mean that no listing applies. Always screen against the official lists.
The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Credits for this page
- Overview, leadership, regulators and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the institution's own website and reports, regulators, company registers and news. Figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
- Images—logos and photos from Wikimedia Commons (credited with their author and licence) or from the institution's own website, where Wikimedia has none. Elucidate keeps a copy of each; the links lead to the source and the original image. Logo: combanketh.et (official website) · original.
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