Key Takeaways:
• Birr 80bn+ — Commercial Bank of Ethiopia reported record profit for 2025/26.
• Birr 2.4tn+ — CBE’s total deposit base reached this level during the fiscal year.
• Birr 707.4bn — CBE collected new deposits in the reporting period.
• Birr 272bn+ — the bank generated revenue during the fiscal year.
• Birr 1.64tn — CBE’s total loan portfolio after Birr 648.02bn in disbursements.
• USD 5.6bn+ — CBE generated foreign-currency earnings during the year.
• Birr 120bn — CBE targets profit for the 2026/27 fiscal year.
Market Impact:
CBE’s results reinforce its position as Ethiopia’s dominant banking institution, with the bank holding about half of national deposits, loans, banking assets and sector capital. The record profit and deposit mobilisation show the scale of liquidity concentrated inside the state-owned lender.
The bank’s lending pattern also signals a shift toward private-sector credit. Of Birr 648.02 billion in loans disbursed during the year, Birr 588.11 billion, or 90.7%, went to the private sector, compared with about 10% of CBE loans six years ago.
Digital banking remains central to CBE’s operating model. The bank processed 3.48 billion digital transactions worth Birr 22.24 trillion and says it accounts for 70% of Ethiopia’s digital payment market by transaction value.
Key Numbers:
Birr 80bn+ — Record profit — 2025/26 performance benchmark
Birr 2.4tn+ — Total deposits — deposit-market dominance
Birr 707.4bn — New deposits — annual deposit mobilization
Birr 1.64tn — Loan portfolio — credit-book scale
Birr 648.02bn — Loans disbursed — annual credit expansion
USD 5.6bn+ — FX earnings — foreign-currency contribution
Birr 22.24tn — Digital transaction value — payment-platform scale
3.48bn — Digital transactions — usage volume
50.1% — Deposit and asset market share — systemic banking role
48.3% — Outstanding loan market share — credit-market weight
Business Signal:
CBE’s record results show Ethiopia’s largest bank deepening its dominance while expanding private-sector lending, digital payments and foreign-currency generation.