Despite the absence of a governing legal framework, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide announced that the country’s first-ever private telecoms operator, Safaricom, has been given the nod to introduce its M-Pesa mobile money service to the Ethiopian market.
It is a milestone for the fast-evolving and increasingly lucrative domestic DFS scene.
The number of active mobile money accounts has doubled to 43 million over the past year – placing Ethiopia among the largest mobile money networks globally.
The state-owned Ethio telecom’s Telebirr mobile money platform, the industry’s top dog, stands as Safaricom’s biggest competitor.
Stiff competition
Telebirr has racked up over 25 million users within a year and a half of its launch as the nation’s first telecom-led mobile money platform.
Drivers have transacted over Br100m at fuel stations using Telebirr in the first two months since the option was
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