Ethiopia’s capital markets regulator has approved the registration of more than 16  million shares of Dashen Bank S.C., marking a further step in the rollout of the country’s nascent securities framework.

The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority said it approved Dashen Bank’s registration statement on Thursday, covering 14,337,000 shares already held by existing shareholders and 2,206,906 new shares authorised for issuance.

The newly registered shares are approved to be offered to existing shareholders in proportion to their current holdings. Any shares not taken up may subsequently be offered to qualified investors and, where applicable, to the public, according to the authority’s notice.

The registration was carried out under the Public Offer and Trading of Securities Directive No. 1030/2024, which requires securities offered or sold to the public to be registered with the authority unless explicitly exempted. The directive also obliges issuers to register shares held by shareholders prior to its issuance.

The authority said the registration should not be interpreted as an offer to sell, or a solicitation to buy, securities, noting that the notice was published solely to inform the public of the regulatory approval. Dashen Bank’s registration brings the total number of companies with registered securities to four, alongside Wegagen Bank, Gadaa Bank, and one other issuer approved earlier under the new framework. 

The approval came on the same day Dashen Bank disclosed its annual performance at its 32th annual general meeting. The lender reported a pre-tax profit of 6.7 billion birr for the fiscal year ended June 2025, up 5.05 percent from a year earlier. Net profit rose to 5.8 billion birr from 4.8 billion birr.

Total revenue climbed 34 percent year on year to 31.4 billion birr, with interest income accounting for 69 percent of the total. The bank’s total assets expanded by nearly 71 billion birr to 254.5 billion birr, a 38.5 percent increase from the previous year. Loans and advances accounted for just over half of total assets, followed by cash and cash equivalents at close to 30 percent and investment securities at around 7 percent.

Equity increased 20 percent to 28.7 billion birr, supported by a 19.5 percent rise in paid-up capital to 14.3 billion birr.

Founded in 1995, Dashen Bank is among Ethiopia’s largest private lenders. Its share registration comes as authorities move to operationalise Ethiopia’s capital market after decades without a formal securities exchange.