General News
Is Ethiopia Africa’s sleeping fintech giant?
By Yohannes Tsehai – Country Manager Onafriq Ethiopia
The fintech sector has been one of Africa’s biggest technology success stories. According to one report, the continent’s 678 fintech startups raised more than US$2.7 billion between 2021 and August 2023. Additionally, almost all of the continent’s unicorns (startups valued at more than US$1 billion) are in the fintech sector.
The majority of that success has, however, come from the continent’s three biggest startup markets: South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. In fact, 68% of African fintech startups come from these “big three” markets. But things are steadily changing. More and more countries are realising the benefits that come with an active fintech ecosystem, with a growing number of entrepreneurs in those countries also looking to enter the space.
One such country is Ethiopia. Home to more than 120 million people (making it the second most populous country in Africa), the country has many of the right ingredients to become Africa’s next big fintech giant. In addition to the country’s population size, it’s home to large numbers of unbanked people. At the same time, the country continues to experience high economic growth and rapidly increasing connectivity levels. With those and other enabling factors in place, could Ethiopia be Africa’s next big fintech giant?
A changing landscape
A few years ago, that’s not a question many would have dared to ask. More recently, however, several things have changed, which suggests that Ethiopia is waking up to, and embracing its fintech potential.
Take telco licensing, for example. Ethiopia has previously been closed off, with only the state-owned Ethio telecom allowed to operate. But Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sees the liberalisation of the country’s telecommunications sector as key to its economic future. As such, the country has opened up to other operators. In October 2022, Safaricom became Ethiopia’s second official operator.
In the ensuing months, it has built up a 4 million-strong customer base and added 1.2 million users to its M-Pesa mobile money platform. Over time, those numbers will continue to grow. And while the bidding process for a third telco license has had to be put on ice for the moment, Ethiopia’s strong economic growth means that it’s only a matter of time before one is granted.
Those telcos will play a critical role in establishing an Ethiopian fintech ecosystem too. Right now, the country has a 53.5% mobile penetration rate but mobile connections grew by nearly 18% between 2022 and 2023. With 75% of the country’s population reportedly unbanked, increasing connectivity levels is one of the most powerful ways of giving people access to financial products, both from telcos and third parties, as demonstrated by Ethio telecom’s mobile money app Telebirr having 39.3 million customers.
Another significant move is the establishment of an Ethiopian stock exchange. The exchange, which is set to open in 2024 or 2025, is designed to be a source of funding for the small and medium-sized companies that form the backbone of the country’s economy. For local fintechs looking to raise the capital they need to expand at scale, it could prove critical.
Developing supportive policies
The Ethiopian government has also made significant strides when it comes to developing policies that encourage the growth of a fintech ecosystem. One of the most significant such policies is the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
According to a research paper published by the GSMA, the aim is to increase financial inclusion from 46% to 70% of all adults by 2025. One of the key avenues it’s identified for doing so is by scaling digital payments through mobile money services. The country additionally aims to increase the use of digital payments from 20% of all adults in 2020 to 49% by 2025.
These policies could be dramatically transformative for both the Ethiopian economy and its people. According to the GSMA, mobile money services “could lift 700,000 people out of poverty, add US$5.3 billion to Ethiopia’s GDP, increase tax revenue by US$300 million and provide a cushion for the economic shocks experienced by almost 40% of Ethiopian households.”
There is, admittedly, a long way to go before mobile money can drive those advancements. GSMA figures show that just 4.2% of adult women and 5.1% of adult men had mobile money accounts in 2022. That said, those numbers are significantly higher than the 0.1% and 0.6% who had accounts in 2017. This suggests that, as much as there’s significant room for mobile money growth in Ethiopia, there’s a sizable and growing appetite too with increasingly accessible outlets.
Putting policy into practice
For policy to be effective, however, it has to be matched with practices that encourage the growth of fintech. Here, too, there are encouraging signs from Ethiopia.
The government has, for instance, used the mobile banking service HelloCash to digitise social protection payments under the flagship Productive Safety Net Programme (PNSP). Additionally, it’s increasingly accepting digital payments for public services such as utilities and has mandated digital-only payments for fuel purchases. The Ministry of Trade, meanwhile, has adopted Ethio’s Telebirr services and now allows traders to pay for services like commercial registration, trade licences and trade name-related service fee payments.
In conjunction with the adoption of mobile money by government departments, its growing use by private sector players such as mid-sized brands like supermarkets, petrol stations, and SMEs should help further drive their adoption.
Growth beyond mobile money
Of course, there are still other things that need to be put in place before Ethiopia really starts to achieve its fintech potential. Reliable interoperability, for example, remains a challenge, as does a shortage of access points and a lack of high-quality agent networks.
None of those challenges are, however, insurmountable. And, given the success that’s already accompanied the adoption of mobile money, overcoming them will help unlock other services that enable digital financial inclusion which have commenced (such as insurance, micro-financing, and savings products).
As more and more of those solutions fall into place, Ethiopia will be well on its way to unlocking its potential and becoming Africa’s next fintech giant.
This Valentine’s Day, PalmPay is celebrating love in all its forms with the launch of #LoveWithPalmPay, a campaign highlighting how simple, everyday shared money moments can bring relationships closer.
Valentine’s Day is more than grand gestures; it’s built on the small, meaningful actions that shape relationships, sending timely support, saving together, or managing shared responsibilities. PalmPay encourages users to share 30–60 second real-life stories, either solo or duet style, showing how PalmPay always works and has helped them support or stay connected with someone they love.
The campaign runs from February 9th to 21st across Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. Four winners will receive ₦100,000 each week for two weeks, totalling a prize pool of ₦800,000.
Entries can take many forms, including couple videos, solo stories, split-screen duets for long-distance couples, or voiceover narratives with photos or clips, making the campaign inclusive for married couples, parents, and long-term partners.
How to Participate:
- Share an authentic love story about your partner
- Clearly show PalmPay in action (transfers, savings, or other in-app activities)
- Be creative and emotionally engaging
- Post between February 9th – 21st with the hashtag #LoveWithPalmPay
- Share on any of PalmPay’s social media platforms
“Love evolves, and so do relationships,” said Olorunfemi Hanson, Head of Marketing and Communication, PalmPay. “From dating to parenthood, the small money moments we share every day play a big role in keeping us connected. With #LoveWithPalmPay, we want to celebrate those stories and show how PalmPay always works, making everyday love simpler, reliable, and meaningful.”
This Valentine’s Day, PalmPay celebrates love as it truly is real, intentional, and built on shared moments.
PalmPay is a leading digital banking platform driving financial inclusion and economic empowerment in underserved emerging markets. Through its secure, user-friendly, and inclusive suite of financial services, PalmPay empowers individuals and businesses with tools to manage and grow their money.
PalmPay offers a comprehensive range of products, including mobile payments, savings, and micro-insurance via its app and mobile money agent network.
Since launching in Nigeria in 2019 under a Mobile Money Operator license, the platform has grown to over 35 million app users and processes up to 15 million transactions daily. PalmPay has operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, and Bangladesh. For more information, visit www.palmpay.com
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have proposed that customers must receive refunds within 30 seconds for failed airtime and data purchases to curb persistent billing complaints in the telecommunications sector.
This was indicated in the Exposure Draft of the Joint CBN–NCC Framework for Resolution of Failed Airtime and Data Purchase Transactions, which was published on the website of the CBN on Monday.
The landmark exposure draft, dated 5 February 2026, seeks to “institutionalise clear accountability” and establish a “coordinated approach to consumer redress” across the financial and telecommunications sectors.
The most significant shift in the proposed framework is the introduction of standardised, automated timelines for resolving failed transactions.
Currently, Nigerians often face long delays when airtime purchases fail at the bank, aggregator, or Mobile Network Operator level.
To solve this, the regulators have proposed a 30-second window for automated reversals. Section 6.0 (ii) of the draft exposure, which dwelt on failed transactions, especially as it relates to unfulfilled airtime/data delivery, proposes a time to refund the purchaser of 30 seconds “if the transaction failed at the bank level… Failed transaction delivery from NCC Authorised Licensees… Failed transaction delivery from MNO to the NCC Authorised Licensee.”
The draft emphasised that stakeholders must “automate reversal processes across all stakeholders” to ensure that refunds require no human intervention from the customer.
The draft exposure also stated that “all parties involved in airtime and data transactions shall take the following actions to ease usage and facilitate consumer satisfaction: a. Stakeholders must immediately connect ONLY to relevant authorised licensees of the NCC and CBN. b. MNOs and banks must only connect to NCC Authorised Licensees/MNO digital channel partners for airtime and data vending… Notifications of failure create final settlement obligations between MNO and NCC-authorised licensees… The NCC and CBN will audit stakeholder compliance jointly or individually at quarterly or other intervals as may be determined.”
From a business and oversight perspective, the regulators are proposing a Central Monitoring Dashboard to be hosted jointly by the CBN and NCC, which will track reversals, Service Level Agreement breaches, and customer complaints in real-time.
“There shall be a Central Monitoring Dashboard hosted by CBN/NCC for tracking reversals, SLA breaches, and customer complaints. This will facilitate the establishment of a real-time national ‘Failed Transactions Dashboard’ with a uniform error code with end-to-end visibility across the value chain’, read the draft exposure.
This is designed to eliminate the “unclear ownership of liability” that often occurs when banks and telcos blame each other for failed recharges. To support this, banks and MNOs will be required to maintain and share daily reports of successful and failed cases.
The proposed framework also addresses the common problem of “lost” money when customers recharge ported phone numbers. The draft mandates that MNOs must validate a phone number against the ported number database before processing any recharge. If the system identifies a number as ported out or invalid, it must “proactively stop recharges” and send a failure code back to the bank to ensure the customer is not debited.
For erroneous recharges sent to the wrong person, the framework sets clear protocols: below N20,000, MNOs will request the recipient’s consent before a reversal, and when it is above N20,000, an affidavit of indemnity or notarised letter is required to process the recovery.
The CBN and NCC in the exposure draft signalled they will take a firm stance on compliance. Both agencies will conduct joint quarterly audits of all stakeholders, including banks, payment service providers, and MNOs, to verify compliance with the new rules. The regulators have warned they will “impose penalties for any breach” of the framework’s provisions.
Banks and other financial institutions have until 10 February 2026 to submit their inputs on the draft before it is finalised. Once implemented, the framework is expected to significantly restore “subscriber trust” in Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.
Federal government has unveiled a new digital platform to connect millions of women to finance, skills training, and market opportunities, in what officials call the country’s largest technology-driven women’s inclusion initiative to date.
The Happy Woman App Platform, which was unveiled at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, would serve as a single interface for women to access funding facilities, business development support, governmental initiatives, and critical services.
The digital drive comes as Nigeria grapples with expanding gender gaps in financial access, with women much less likely than males to maintain bank accounts or obtain formal credit, limiting their capacity to grow informal enterprises they primarily run.
Yet women remain central to the economy, accounting for a large share of micro and small enterprises that contribute nearly half of the country’s GDP.
According to the Social Institutions and Gender Index, only about 35 percent of Nigerian women have a bank account at a financial institution, compared with 55 percent of men, underscoring the depth of persistent financial exclusion and the urgency of targeted interventions.
The launch coincided with the expansion of the Nigeria for Women Programme, which the administration now plans to scale nationwide to reach 25 million women.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by vice president Kashim Shettima, said the scale-up is central to Nigeria’s economic growth strategy.
“A nation that relegates its women is a nation bound for implosion,” he said, adding that women must be placed “at the centre of national planning and productivity.”
The expanded programme builds on a pilot phase in six states that reached over one million women, many organised into Women Affinity Groups to access grants, savings schemes and livelihood support.
The government says the new app will streamline beneficiary registration, payments and training, reducing leakages and improving delivery.
Kaspersky Gives Advice on How to Make AI for Children Safer @ Safer Internet Day
NITDA Supports CAC AI Driven Transformation
Sophos Expands AI Capabilities with Arco Cyber Acquisition
U.S. Slams Nigerians: Overstays Jeopardize All Visas
Inside Nigeria’s Telecom Exploitation Crisis Draining Household Budgets
Firm Detected a Fivefold Surge in QR Code Phishing Attacks in the Second Half of 2025
US invests $115m in counter-drone tech for World Cup security
Nigerian Terra Industries Secures $11.8m for Expansion
Nigeria Targeted with 4,622 Cyber-attacks Per Week in December 2025
Firm Detected a Scam Exploiting OpenAI’s Teamwork Features
Telecom2 days agoNCC Committed to Regional Digital Integration – Maida
General News2 days agoIndigenous Firm Deploys 400,000 Smart Electricity Meters in 2025
E-Financial2 days agoCBN Expresses Concern Over Foreign Investments in Nigeria Fintechs
E-Financial2 days agoBOI Secures CBN Nod for Sharia Banking, Unlocks Ethical Funding Boom
Telecom2 days agoITU Top Director Visits NITDA, Boosts Nigeria’s Digital Literacy Push
E-Financial2 days agoUBA’s Easy and Instant Account Opening Thrills Returnee
News2 days agoEFInA Unveils Research Fellowship Programme to Deepen Financial Inclusion Impact
Telecom1 day agoSafer Internet Day: Sophos Warns – 42% Attacks Hit Stolen Logins in 2025