Oromia Bank’s Expansion Brings Big Plans, Bigger Costs, Shrinking Profits

Incorporated in 2008 with a paid-up capital of 91 million Br raised from around 5,000 shareholders, Oromia Bank emerged as a thirdgeneration financial institution and quickly earned a reputation for pushing the envelope in rural banking. Over the past decade and a half, the Bank has scaled up to a paid-up capital of 6.5 billion Br, posting a 21pc increase year-on-year. The expansion helped raise the Bank’s capital-to-asset ratio by nearly one percentage point to 14.07pc, demonstrating stronger capital buffers even as asset growth softened.