Anti Money Laundering (AML) in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has not experienced many problems due to money laundering activities until recently. Now, money laundering has attracted the attention of financial institutions, research institutions and the government, and the need to address and combat money laundering is becoming more apparent. In 2009, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) passed a comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering (AML) bill and established a Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).

According to the new law, all cash deposits and withdrawals exceeding 200,000 birr in local currency and 10,000 dollars or equivalent in other currencies are required to be reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).

The FIC Office is still being organized. It expects to receive all reports as of the indicated date once it starts functioning, according to an official at the office.

AML Training in Ethiopia

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is currently in the process of creating a sufficient AML framework program. This framework will provide the country with its necessary training requirements to ensure that all financial institutions in the country are prepared to prevent and protect against money laundering.

The Economy of Ethiopia

Despite Ethiopia’s poverty-stricken economy, the country continues to register a high-growth rate. The country, like most of Africa, has virtually no private business sector and, therefore, relies heavily on agriculture to stimulate the economy. The economy of Ethiopia is based primarily on agriculture, which accounts for half of gross domestic product (GDP), and nearly 85% of employment in the country.

The current government has embarked on a program of economic reform. While the process is ongoing, the reforms have begun to attract much-needed foreign investment and are an ongoing, growing process, which will continue to improve the economy.

Banking in Ethiopia

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is the country’s central bank. Established in 1963 by proclamation 206 of 1963, the Bank began operation in January 1964. Prior to this proclamation, the Bank was used to carry out dual activities, i.e. commercial banking and central banking. The proclamation raised the Bank's capital to 10 million Ethiopian dollars and granted broad administrative autonomy and juridical personality.

Following the proclamation, the NBE is entrusted to:

• Regulate the supply, availability and cost of money and credit.
• Manage and administer the country's international reserves.
• License and supervise banks and hold commercial banks reserves and lend money to them.
• Issue paper money and coins.
• Fix and control the foreign exchange rates.

Ethiopia's Currency

The currency in Ethiopia is the birr. The dirr comes in both banknotes and coins. Banknotes are available in 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 denominations. The current coins are available in 1, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 denominations.

Other Key Statistics about Ethiopia

Time Zone: UTC+3 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time).

Daylight savings time: Ethiopia does not currently observe daylight savings time.

Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia.

Population: 31,627,428 (July 2010 est.).

Labor Force: Agriculture: 85%, industry: 5%, services: 10% (2009 est.).

Languages Spoken: Amarigna (Amharic) (official), Oromigna (official regional) 31.6%, Tigrigna (official regional) 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (official) (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (official).

Trade Organizations: Ethiopia is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).