Awash Insurance S.C. has become the first insurance company to list on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX), with its shares now trading on the ESX Main Market under the ticker AWIN. A bell-ringing ceremony on Tuesday marked the listing of the 31-year-old insurer, which extends the exchange beyond the banks and telecoms that have so far dominated activity.
The listing is a registration of existing shares rather than a new share sale. Eight million ordinary shares with a par value of 500 birr each have been registered with the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA), of which 6,750,604 are fully paid and form the shares listed on the exchange. The remaining 1,249,396 are subscribed but unpaid.
ESX Chief Executive Officer Yodit Kassa said Awash Insurance is the eighth company on the exchange. "People kept talking about banks and telecoms. Now, with full pride, we can say, insurance is here too," Yodit said at the ceremony. She noted that Awash Insurance and Awash Bank are themselves among the owners of the exchange, so that "our growth is your growth."
ECMA Director General Dagmawit Shiferaw said the listing matters because insurers channel long-term funds into the economy. Citing the National Bank of Ethiopia's Financial Stability Report, she put the sector's total assets at about 84.9 billion birr and its premiums at roughly 41.1 billion birr. Dagmawit said 67 percent of insurers' funds sit in bank deposits, and she urged them to become investors in the market, not only issuers of shares.
Awash Insurance Chief Executive Officer Jibat Alemneh said the listing reflects the company's belief in the new capital market and its commitment to meeting legal and regulatory requirements, providing timely and accurate information, and strengthening shareholder trust. "Our joining the capital market today is not the destination of our journey, but a new beginning," Jibat said.
Established in 1994, the company said it will work to improve performance, accelerate digital transformation, introduce new products, and expand life and health insurance as well as its Takaful (Islamic insurance) service.
Why it matters for Ethiopia's capital market
The listing broadens the ESX beyond banking and telecoms, giving investors a new sector to trade and adding an insurer to a market that has so far been shaped mainly by lenders. It also tests whether insurance companies can use the exchange to raise their profile and access capital market funding, at a time when regulators are encouraging insurers to move beyond bank deposits.
Awash Insurance joins a small but growing roster of listed companies on the ESX. According to Aksion.ET market data, AWIN shares were quoted at 1,500 birr at the latest market open, up 200 percent, reflecting early trading interest in the newly listed stock.
The listing also comes as Ethiopian insurers face pressure to diversify their investment portfolios. With most sector funds held in bank deposits, ECMA and ESX officials have signalled that deeper capital market participation could help insurers match long-term liabilities with longer-dated assets.
What to watch
Attention now turns to how AWIN shares trade in the coming sessions and whether other insurers follow Awash onto the exchange. The company has said it will focus on digital transformation, new products, and expansion of life, health, and Takaful services, areas that could shape investor interest in the stock.
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