Ato Hailu Alemu is a graduate of Addis Ababa University with B.A. Degree in Economics (1986) and Accounting (2000). He has also attended various training local and abroad. He started his career at Ministry of Finance (MoF) in Research and Planning Department in 1986 and worked in different capacities. In MoF, he had been engaging in planning and research on various Public sector and fiscal policy issues. Later, he joined Construction & Business Bank S.C. (CBB) in 1996 and served as a Deputy Manager, Credit Department and Head, Market Research & Planning Division for about nine years. Further to this, he served as a Secretary of Board of Directors for about four years at CBB.

In December 2005, he moved to NIB International Bank S.C. (NIB), where he was a Vice President-Credit, Risk Management & Branch Operations since June 2007. He has also served as a Manager, Credit & Risk Management Dep't of NIB before he held the VP position. In addition to his regular tasks, he has served as Board Member of Nib Insurance Company and Vice Board Chairman of a local NGO, Care for the Poor.

From the outset, Ato Hailu made various achievements in his banking career. Just to mention a few, his excelling leadership on credit and risk management and branch operations as well as customer relations has brought well demonstrated outcomes in his earlier banking career.

He joined Addis International Bank S.C. in October 2010 as founding President.