The plan by an Ethiopian bank to operate an all-female branch has received varied reactions from social media users. The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, CBE, announced on Monday that it had opened the said branch in the capital, Addis Ababa.
On social media platform, Twitter, users have expressed polarizing viewpoints. Majority say it was an unnecessary publicity stunt, others called for a reconsidering of the move whiles a few expressed support.
Ethiopia has at the political level been celebrated for giant strides in women appointments. Under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the country has Africa’s only female president as at April 2019, in the person of Sahle-Work Zewde.
የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ በሴት ሠራተኞቹ ብቻ አገልግሎት የሚሰጥበት ቅርንጫፍ በአንጋፋው የባንክ ባለሙያ በአቶ ለይኩን ብርሃኑ ሥም ከፈተ፡፡ pic.twitter.com/eCrDBE5gsG
— Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (@combankethiopia) April 15, 2019
Abiy’s cabinet as of October 2018 is gender-par with women occupying ten of twenty slots. The Supreme Court judge is Meaza Ashenafi, the first woman to hold the post with the elections board boss also led by Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge.
CBE, is the largest commercial bank in Ethiopia, established in 1942. The bank says it’s the pioneer of modern banking to the country with more than 1340 branches across the country.
Source: Africanews