Ethiopia’s premier commercial bank is grappling with the fallout of a significant systems malfunction that allowed customers to withdraw millions of dollars beyond their account balances.
Reports indicate that over $40 million (£31 million) was withdrawn or transferred from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia during the incident, prompting swift action from the institution to halt all transactions.
Despite initial concerns of a cyber attack, investigations have ruled out such malicious intent as the cause of the glitch.
In response to the extraordinary withdrawals, the bank has taken measures to recover the funds. Additionally, reports suggest that individuals, particularly students on university campuses where a bulk of the withdrawals occurred, have been apprehended in connection with the incident.
