By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA

Afri-Agro Industrial Bank the first-ever private development bank in Ethiopia is being established through the efforts of Costantinos Berhe Tesfu, PhD, a board member of the African Union (AU) Anti-corruption Commission, who is leading a group of twenty five prominent individuals towards establishing the bank .

On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, the bank made a public offering of 100,000 shares, each valued at 10,000 Br, with the aim to raise one billion Birr. “Our vision is to revolutionise agriculture in Ethiopia by pushing for more investments in mechanised agriculture by Ethiopians. We see it as a viable model; the conditions in the country indicate that there are opportunities for the export of value-added agricultural products,” said Costantinos Berhe Tesfu as reported by Samson Haileyesus a reporter for business newspaper Addis Fortune.

Costantinos also shared that the bank is collaborating with a venture financing company to finance long-term projects that would also source financing from international institutions such as the World Bank (WB), AfDB, International Fund for Agriculture Development, and hedge funds.

To find out more about this new venture visit: http://allafrica.com/stories/201106220355.html