Investment Banks
Investment Banks
Investment banks are among the licensed intermediaries that connect companies and investors to Ethiopia’s capital market. They help companies raise capital through listings and bond issuance, advise on transactions, and, once admitted as ESX Trading Members, execute trades on behalf of clients.
What Investment Banks Do in This Market
- Advise companies preparing to list shares or bonds on ESX
- Underwrite and place new share or bond issuances
- Execute trades for institutional and retail clients once licensed as ESX Trading Members
- Provide research and advisory services on capital market transactions
Licensed Investment Banks & ESX Trading Members
ESX has admitted eight trading members. The roster grows as ECMA licenses new firms and ESX completes their membership process, so treat this as a maintained, dated list rather than a static page.
| Firm | Type / Notes | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Wegagen Capital Investment Bank S.C. | ESX’s first trading member. 75% owned by Wegagen Bank. | wegagencapital.com.et |
| CBE Capital Investment Bank S.C. | ESX’s second trading member. Public-private partnership: 70% Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, 30% Dalol Capital. | cbecapitalsc.com |
| Ethio Fidelity Securities Dealer S.C. | Ethiopia’s first licensed securities dealer. | ethiofidelity.com |
| Awash Capital S.C. | Trading member offering brokerage services. [Verify bank affiliation before publishing.] | awashcapital.com |
| Gadaa Securities Dealer S.C. | Trading member offering securities dealing services. [Verify bank affiliation before publishing.] | gadaacapital.com.et |
| First Addis Investment Bank | Admitted May 2026. | fabinvestbank.com |
| Siinqee Investment Bank | Admitted May 2026. | siinqeeinvestmentbank.com |
| Prime Capital S.C. | Most recently admitted trading member. [Confirm admission date before publishing.] | primecapitalsc.com |
Source: ESX official Trading Members page (esx.et/members/trading-members-of-esx). Link each firm name to its ESX profile and/or company site; re-check the roster before each content refresh, as ESX has added members roughly every few months.
How a Firm Becomes an Investment Bank in This Market
Becoming an investment bank in Ethiopia’s capital market runs through two separate gates: a license from the regulator, and admission to the exchange itself. First, the firm secures a capital market service provider license from the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA), specifically in the investment banking category, distinct from the securities dealer and investment advisor categories ECMA also licenses. This step alone took roughly five months for CBE Capital, the first firm to go through it. Eligibility is narrow by design: only a share company or private limited company can apply, and for a bank-affiliated entity, the arrangement rests on NBE Directive SBB/92/2024, which permits commercial banks to acquire up to 100% equity in a capital market service provider.
Once licensed, the firm applies to ESX for an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) as a Trading Member. This runs in parallel with the ECMA application in practice, since ESX prepares its own review while ECMA finalizes the license. From there, the firm goes through ESX’s Certification Inspection, which checks whether the firm’s systems, staff, and processes are actually ready to operate: order management, back-office infrastructure, and connection to ESX’s Automated Trading System and the Central Securities Depository.
The final step is the Trading License itself, granted once ESX confirms the firm meets every operational requirement. Only at that point can the firm execute trades. In practice, this has meant real onboarding runway even after licensing: Wegagen Capital, licensed alongside CBE Capital in March 2025, became ESX’s first trading member; CBE Capital followed as the second a few months later in June 2025.
Worth noting for readers: ownership structure shapes who’s applying. Several of the firms that have gone through this process are bank-affiliated, following the same NBE directive that let Wegagen Bank and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia set up their own investment banking subsidiaries. That’s a pattern worth watching as more commercial banks weigh whether to build their own capital markets arm versus staying out of it.