AfDB’s Capital Markets Development Trust Fund Approves $400,000 Technical Assistance Grant for Ethiopian Capital Market Authority and Ethiopian Securities Exchange
The African Development Bank Group has approved $400,000 in grant funding to deepen Ethiopia’s capital markets.
Under the Ethiopia Capital Market Development Support Project, the grant will advance infrastructure development at the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA) and support the Ethiopian Securities Exchanges (ESX) to diversify product offerings and strengthen capacity. Established in June 2021, the ECMA is the regulator of Ethiopia’s capital market industry; ESX is the country’s securities exchange, offering shares and other market products to investors. The grant will be sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF), a multi-donor trust fund, managed by the African Development Bank.
At the ECMA, the funding will support the establishment of a public disclosure platform to enable timely and accurate dissemination of company information to investors, shareholders and other market actors, and ultimately improve decision-making and fair price discovery in the market. The ESX is expected to expand its offerings to include exchange traded funds, sukuks and green bonds,
Hana Tehelku, Director General of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, said, “We are proud to collaborate with the African Development Bank’s Capital Markets Development Trust Fund on this vital project. This grant reflects our shared vision for a vibrant and resilient Ethiopian capital market. The support for ECMA’s infrastructure development and ESX’s capacity building and product diversification will be instrumental in attracting domestic and international investment, propelling Ethiopia’s economic growth, and expanding access to crucial long-term financing.
“The ESX is pleased to collaborate with the African Development Bank in expanding the suite of products and services available on ESX,” said Tilahun Kassahun, CEO of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange. The intervention is also timely considering the significant progress made in laying the foundations of the Ethiopian capital market ecosystem. It is now time to focus on interventions that bring actual impact for issuers and investors.”
Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Director for Financial Sector Development, said, “The Ethiopia Capital Market Development Support Project reflects the African Development Bank’s vision of enabling countries like Ethiopia to emerge as a financial hub capable of attracting and deploying capital efficiently. This being the first CMDTF project in Ethiopia marks a major milestone in CMDTF’s continental expansion outside West Africa. It reinforces the Bank’s commitment to building resilient capital markets that can mobilize domestic and international long-term resources while unlocking new financial opportunities.”
The project’s broad objective is to contribute to the expansion of Ethiopia’s financial sector and economy by improving access to long-term financing for the public and private sector through capital markets. The project builds on the African Development Bank’s previous interventions to foster a robust financial sector in Ethiopia, which includes the development of the Capital Market Proclamation in 2021, the law establishing the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority and the Ethiopian Securities Exchange.
The Capital Markets Development Trust Fund was established in 2019 to help deepen and diversify African capital market institutions, with funding from donors including the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The Fund commenced with pilot projects in West Africa, and as of June 2025, has an active portfolio of $6 million across 16 countries. The Ethiopia Capital Market Development Support Project is the Fund’s first project outside West Africa.
