Ethiopia is the most populated, landlocked country in the world and sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest growing economy. Propelling the country even further towards realising its objective of becoming a digital-first economy, the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy, first launched in 2020, is developing digital infrastructure and integrating digital technology across all sectors, most notably, manufacturing and agriculture, on which Ethiopia relies.
However, the primary focus of the Ethiopian government, which is leading this initiative, is to drive transformation in Ethiopia’s payments landscape, opening up the financial sector, facilitating more cross border payments, and more interoperability, all of which will underpin the country’s drive to a more future facing economy.
Digital Ethiopia 2025
Ethiopia’s ‘Digital Ethiopia 2025’ Strategy has set ambitious goals for transforming payments and financial infrastructure, working towards reducing cash dependency, expanding mobile money, and building interoperability. It offers an unprecedented opportunity for banks and fintechs to align with these efforts and to become involved in creating a new digital payments roadmap for this once closed off country.
This digitally aware, mobile-first generation will be central to Ethiopia’s future financial landscape by driving demand for more accessible, innovative, and inclusive digital payment solutions.
Infrastructure improvements
This means that one of the country’s first priorities has been to invest in infrastructure that supports digitisation, especially in Ethiopia’s payments sector. Significant progress is already underway. Mobile coverage is expanding through public-private initiatives aimed at improving access in rural and underserved areas. National electrification projects are enhancing power reliability, which is essential for digital service delivery. The development of on-soil data processing centres is further enabling compliance with local data laws and improving the performance of digital financial services. Together, these investments are laying the groundwork for broader adoption of mobile money, digital wallet solutions, and other innovations that support the growth of payments in Ethiopia.
Key regulatory milestones
Included in its raft of regulatory directives managing digital payments, the Bank of Ethiopia is now allowing foreign investment in the country’s different payment providers. This marks a significant shift, until recently, Ethiopia maintained a closed financial system that restricted foreign ownership in the sector. The change began in earnest with the amended National Payment System Proclamation in 2023, which opened the market to international fintechs and non-bank financial service providers. This has opened the door for companies such as EFTCorp to enter the Ethiopian market bringing their technology and expertise, to drive the financial inclusion that the government seeks.
Given the enabling environment created by Digital Ethiopia 2025, rapid digitisation at scale in Ethiopia is gaining significant ground.
Role of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE)
As the country opens up, it is also taking steps to make Ethiopia’s payment landscape more attractive to both businesses and consumers by reducing taxation on digital financial services. The NBE has also backed the development of a national payment switch – EthSwitch – ensuring that all banks, mobile money providers and fintechs can transact across networks, strengthening confidence in the overall digital payment process. By encouraging entrants such as EFTCorp, Ethiopia is laying the foundations that will support a modern and competitive payments system.
Implementing a meaningful digitisation strategy in Ethiopia’s banking and financial sector is a significant undertaking – one that requires trusted partners with regional expertise and scalable infrastructure. EFTCorp is actively engaging with leading banks, financial institutions and national switches to accelerate digital enablement across the payments sector – underpinned by a robust technology stack that spans switching, issuing, acquiring, and digital wallet integration, and is purpose-built for high-growth, regulated markets such as Ethiopia. The company’s ongoing partnerships with relevant stakeholders position it as a trusted enabler of Ethiopia’s payments ecosystem.
To learn more about how EFTCorp is supporting digital financial transformation across Africa, or to explore partnership opportunities in Ethiopia, connect with us here.
