ADDIS ABABA – Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia plc says it will roll out M-Pesa financial services later this year after securing Payment Instrument Issuer License.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) granted the License to Safaricom M-PESA Mobile Financial Services PLC, a subsidiary company owned by Safaricom Telecom Ethiopia, on Thursday.
This comes six months after Ethiopian lawmakers amended the National Payment Systems Proclamation, allowing foreign-owned telecom operators to provide Mobile Financial services in the country.
The license, the first to be given to a foreign investor, enables the fintech company to offer mobile financial services to its customers in Ethiopia under the trademark M-PESA.
CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, Anwar Soussa said he was “delighted to receive the license to establish M-Pesa and start providing Mobile Financial Services to our customers”.
The CEO said, “M-Pesa comes with a tested and proven track record of enabling financial inclusion in Africa.”
M-pesa already has more than 51 million customers across seven countries in Africa, making it Africa’s largest fintech platform both for the banked and unbanked.
In Ethiopia, the fintech company has already been established with a 50 million Birr initial capital in compliance with the applicable legislation in the country.
Safaricom Ethiopia says it will start offering mobile financial services under the brand M-PESA by the second half of 2023.
CEO Anwar extended his company’s gratitude to the Ministry of Finance, and the National Bank of Ethiopia “for the support and guidance which will allow us to contribute our share to the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia fast tracking Digital Inclusion and promote innovation outlined in the Digital payments Strategy 2025.”
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