Dr Addis Ababa Othow the newly appointed Governor of the Bank of South Sudan - courtesy

Meet Dr. Addis Ababa Othow, the seasoned economist and financial expert hand-picked to lead South Sudan’s Central Bank and navigate the nation through its worsening cash crisis.

President Salva Kiir on Monday evening dismissed Johny Ohisa Damian from his role as Governor of the Bank of South Sudan in a presidential decree read on the state-run TV, SSBC.

In another decree, the President appointed Dr. Addis Ababa Othow, the First Deputy Governor, as the new head of the country’s central bank.

As is common with such decisions, the presidential decrees did not give reasons for the leadership change at the financial institution.

But the move comes at a time when the country is grappling with a worsening cash crisis.

For several weeks now, South Sudanese have faced serious difficulties accessing cash in their bank accounts. Commercial banks are limiting withdrawals, and mobile money agents are reportedly only accepting deposits, rarely allowing withdrawals.

Why Dr. Othow?

President Kiir’s choice of Dr. Othow may not be surprising to those familiar with his career. A trained economist and financial expert, Dr. Othow brings both international and local experience from the public and private sectors.

He began his career in public service in 2010 as a consultant at the Anti-Corruption Commission before joining the Bank of South Sudan as head of the non-banking division later that year.

Three years later, in 2013, he was promoted to head of the Planning, Regulation, and Licensing Division at the Central Bank. During this time, he also served on the Steering Committee for the Private Sector Development Program, where he worked with files from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

In 2015, Dr. Othow moved back to the private sector. He joined Equity Bank at its headquarters in Nairobi as General Manager of Operations. Not long after, he was transferred to Juba and by 2018, he became the Managing Director of Equity Bank South Sudan Ltd.

In 2022, he returned to the public sector when he was appointed First Deputy Governor of the Bank of South Sudan. He remained in that post until October 2023, before briefly returning to Equity Bank. However, in February this year, he was reappointed as First Deputy Governor and tasked with leading financial policy and banking operations.

Trusted with Oversight

Besides his work at the Central Bank, Dr. Othow served in several top leadership roles. These include being the Chairperson of the Board of Directors at the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors at Rombur National Teachers Training Institute, and Chairperson of the National Committee for the Financial Intelligence Unit.

He also served as Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trustees for the South Sudan Pensions Fund, helping oversee the country’s growing pension sector.

Dr. Othow is also involved in academia, working as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the College of Social and Economic Studies at the University of Juba.

Education and Early Career

Born in Malakal in 1974, Dr. Othow earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Al-Neelain University in Khartoum.

He began teaching at the same university before joining the Central Bank of Sudan in 1997 as a banking inspector. The following year, he joined Ivory Bank and was part of the team that led its financial and accounting restructuring.

In 1999, he was appointed to the Council of Southern Sudan as an advisor and development planner while completing his master’s degree in Economic Development from Al-Neelain University.

Later, Dr. Othow pursued further studies in Europe. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from Hanze University in the Netherlands in 2007 and worked as an assistant accountant and auditor at Dubois & Co Chartered Accountants in Amsterdam until 2010.

Now, as the new Central Bank Governor, Dr. Othow faces a major task: restoring confidence in the banking system, stabilizing the cash supply, and guiding the country’s financial sector through one of its most difficult times.