Admassu Tadesse is the President and Chief Executive of TDB (formerly trading as PTA Bank), the Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank, since his appointment in 2011.

The Bank covers 20 countries from Egypt to Mozambique and Swaziland, and has some 32 shareholders, both sovereigns and financial institutions, including the African Development Bank and the Peoples Republic of China, both of which increased their shareholding in 2014. The Bank operates out of 5 countries, Burundi, Kenya, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

The Bank has assets of about 4.5 billion USD, which grew by some 300% over the past 5 years. Over 10 new shareholders joined the Bank during this period, and several new strategic funding partnerships were formed with major institutions such as the European Investment Bank, China EXIM Bank, KfW, BNDES, IDC, AFD and USAID. First ever dividends were declared to shareholders in 2014 and has since continued. Gross non-performing loans are about 2.85% and average returns on equity are about 12%. The Bank's credit rating was upgraded in 2013 and 2012, and given a positive outlook in 2016.

Previously, Mr. Tadesse was Executive Vice-President at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in Johannesburg, responsible for international finance and corporate strategy, where he served for 10 years. Prior, he worked as an advisor, analyst and specialist, with various international funds and organizations in New York. Mr. Tadesse holds an MSc from the London School of Economics, and an MBA from Wits Business School in South Africa. He is also an alumni of Harvard Business School and the University of Western Ontario where he has also trained and qualified.

He has served on several boards, trusts and industry bodies in Africa and internationally. He has lived and worked internationally for over 35 years, in some ten countries across three continents, including 10 years in the US, 10 years in South Africa and 5 years in Kenya and Burundi. He is conversant in French and Arabic, and fluent in English and Amharic, his mother tongues. He is the recipient of a number of honors and awards.