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The Central Bank of Ethiopia recently granted Kenyan telecoms operator, Safaricom, the first mobile money transfer licence. This is the first time a foreign operator is being given this facility. Ethiopia’s banking sector is fully under government control so far
The Central Bank of Ethiopia recently granted Kenyan telecoms operator, Safaricom, the first mobile money transfer licence. This is the first time a foreign operator is being given this facility. Ethiopia’s banking sector is fully under government control so far.
It may be recalled that Safaricom Ethiopia has been awarded the second mobile phone licence in Ethiopia in 2021, along with Ethio Telecom, which is owned by the government. Safaricom has been gradually rolling out its network since 2022 in Ethiopia, the second largest populous country after Nigeria. Ethiopia has 120 million people as against Nigeria’s over 200 million people.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced that it had issued the mobile money transfer services licence to Safaricom M-Pesa Mobile Financial Service Plc, which is a newly created subsidiary of Safaricom Ethiopia. Safaricom Ethiopia is a consortium led by Safaricom and South African operator Vodacom and the Japanese group Sumimoto.
Safaricom Ethiopia had reached an agreement with the Ethiopian government to obtain the mobile money licence., as announced by the company sources last October, after carrying out necessary amendments in the telecom regulatory framework.
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Safaricom’s M-Pesa service, which is widely used in Kenya allows customers to send and receive money, pay bills, or make purchases, even without a bank account. Safaricom has 51 million customers spread across seven African countries and M-Pesa contributes almost 40% of its profits. In Ethiopia, its service is known as Telebirr, named after the Ethiopian national currency, the birr.
