ADDIS ABABA, May 28 (AGCNewsNet) — A programming glitch in the mobile banking system of Ethiopia’s largest bank, the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), has led to the disappearance of 56 million US dollars, prompting an urgent investigation and a repayment demand from the country’s central bank.

The error, which occurred in March, allowed thousands of customers, predominantly university students, to withdraw or transfer more money than they had in their accounts. According to CBE officials, the malfunction lasted several hours before being corrected.

"It was a system failure during a scheduled update that caused accounts to reflect inflated balances," said Abe Sano, the bank’s president, in a statement to state media. "We were able to freeze a number of transactions, but about 56 million dollars was unaccounted for.”

Students from over 100 Ethiopian universities reportedly took advantage of the technical error after word spread quickly via social media and messaging platforms. Many used mobile apps and ATMs to move the funds before the system was shut down.

The National Bank of Ethiopia has instructed CBE to recover the funds immediately and ensure system integrity going forward. “We’ve mandated a full audit and ordered CBE to retrieve the disbursed money by all legal means,” said central bank governor Mamo Mihretu.

Authorities have since launched a nationwide campaign to identify individuals who benefited from the incident. While some have voluntarily returned the money, police have arrested dozens suspected of intentional exploitation.

CBE, which holds over 60 percent of Ethiopia’s banking assets, said it does not anticipate serious long-term financial damage. However, analysts say the glitch raises serious questions about digital banking security in one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.

“This incident is not just a technical issue; it’s a trust issue,” said Daniel Tadesse, a fintech expert based in Addis Ababa. “Banks must reinforce security, but also build ethical awareness among users.”

The bank has urged all users involved in the incident to return the funds immediately, warning that failure to do so could result in legal consequences. The exact number of people involved and the status of recovered funds remain unclear.

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