The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has launched a groundbreaking initiative, marking a significant milestone in the country’s financial landscape. On November 22, 2025, the NBE unveiled its Central Securities Depository (CSD) system and the nation’s inaugural National Investor Portal, named ‘Ts’ega’. This development signifies a substantial leap forward in Ethiopia’s pursuit of a transparent, efficient, and fully digital capital market ecosystem.
In a statement, the NBE emphasized the transformative nature of this achievement, stating, ‘This milestone marks a major advancement in Ethiopia’s efforts to build a transparent, efficient, and fully digital capital market ecosystem.’ The CSD, a cornerstone of modern financial systems, is designed to facilitate the smooth and secure operation of monetary policy instruments and the primary securities market.
The NBE’s collaboration with Montran, a US-based financial payments solution provider, played a pivotal role in the CSD’s development. This partnership, established two years prior, focused on designing and implementing the securities market infrastructure. The CSD’s primary function is to ensure the safe custody of securities and manage the entire post-trade lifecycle, encompassing ownership transfers, clearing, settlement, and portfolio reporting.
The introduction of the CSD is expected to bolster market integrity, enhance efficiency, and mitigate operational risks, aligning Ethiopia with international best practices. Additionally, the NBE has launched ‘Ts’ega’, Ethiopia’s first National Investor Portal, named after the Amharic word for ‘wealth’. This digital platform empowers individual and institutional investors with secure, real-time access to securities information recorded in the Central Securities Depository.
‘Ts’ega’ stands out as the first application in Ethiopia to enable investors to view their holdings directly from the national depository, eliminating the need for manual updates from intermediaries. This innovation represents a significant step towards expanding access to financial markets and fostering financial inclusion.
The NBE’s Central Securities Depository offers a comprehensive suite of private securities services, including private securities dematerialization, centralized custody, post-trade orchestration, and corporate actions processing. These services are poised to enhance transparency, reduce operational risks, and modernize the management and recording of private securities across the market.
The launch of the CSD and the Investor Portal aligns with several key pillars of the NBE’s 2023-2026 strategic plan. These include transitioning to a market-based monetary policy regime, strengthening data analysis and research capabilities for policy-making, and promoting digitization and broad financial inclusion.
Despite the significant advancements, the NBE assures that the launch of the CSD and the Investor Portal does not introduce any operational changes for banks, settlement institutions, or intermediaries. All existing processes remain intact, allowing market participants to continue their operations without disruption. The NBE also plans to launch a mobile app for the Ts’ega Investor Portal, further enhancing accessibility and user experience.