Mastercard in talks for digital financial inclusion project in Ethiopia

Officials of Ethiopia’s government-owned telecommunications company, Ethio telecom, recently held talks with a delegation from Mastercard on ways of reinvigorating their partnership aimed at driving financial inclusion, not only in Ethiopia but across the region and the continent.

The CEO of the telco, Frehiwot Tamru, met a Mastercard team led by the payment card giant’s Senior Vice President and Manager for East Africa, Shehryar Ali, Ethio telecom announced in an X thread.

According to the announcement, the discussion touched on a wide range of issues including “the progress of ongoing initiatives while advancing innovative, future-ready digital financial solutions designed to expand Ethiopia’s global digital footprint.”

They also shared perspectives on how they can continue to work together to boost digital payments across borders and “remittance services while identifying new opportunities to deliver enhanced value to customers and businesses.”

In the course of the exchange, Ethio telecom’s CEO emphasized the country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) advancements, citing the digital payments component, as an example. Mobile money service Telebirr is making a major impact, being used currently by more than 58 million persons.

Going forward, both parties also committed to expanding efforts aimed at integrating Ethio telecom’s digital capabilities with Mastercard’s global payment ecosystem, in a way that can also support the growth of a new generation of fintech solutions, “enhance multi-currency liquidity capabilities, and enable seamless international financial flows, further strengthening Ethiopia’s digital economy and global connectivity.”

On his part, the Mastercard Senior VP hailed the pertinence of their partnership with Ethio telecom, citing the latter’s “robust infrastructure.” Added to this, he said, are the telco’s expanding customer base and innovation-driven approach, and he restated Mastercard’s commitment to continue the collaboration in order to better meet the financial needs of people in Ethiopia and beyond.

Late last month, Tamru also held talks with another Mastercard delegation led by the company’s President for Africa, Mark Elliott. Their exchange essentially focused on how to boost efforts in building better digital financial services in Ethiopia, and the continent as a whole, the Ethiopia News Agency (ENA) reported.

The move by Ethio telecom to solidify its collaboration with Mastercard is the latest in a series of actions aimed at supporting Ethiopia’s ongoing digital transformation journey.

Last month, the telco participated in the launch of a digital signature platform TeleSign, intended to facilitate legally binding digital transactions.

The company is also actively involved in biometric enrollment for the Fayda digital ID.

Article Topics

digital payments  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Ethio Telecom  |  Ethiopia  |  financial inclusion  |  Mastercard