East African money transfer service, DahabShiil, and Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-PESA, have signed a partnership that will enable the Ethiopian diaspora to send money directly to M-PESA mobile wallets.
The partnership will simplify sending money to Ethiopia from the diaspora, streamlining the remittance process and translating to faster transfers and increased security.
DahabShiil is one of the oldest remittance operators on the continent having been founded in 1970 as a remittance venture to enable migrants to send money to family and friends back in the countries of East Africa.
The company has grown to be the largest African money transfer business and its services can be accessed across 150 countries worldwide, 51 of which are in Africa. It serves not just individual customers but also international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, Oxfam and Save the Children.
“We are delighted we have partnered with Safaricom’s M-PESA Ethiopia, giving our diaspora customers another channel to send money there, further enabling them to support their loved ones,” Musse Mohamed, Ethiopia’s country representative in Dahabshiil said in a statement.
M-PESA, which activated its services in Ethiopia in August 2023, has reportedly amassed more than 3 million customers in East Africa’s largest economy, and by December 31, 2023, had over 26,400 M-PESA agents and over 43,100 merchants.
“We are delighted to partner with Dahabshiil, a leading player in international money transfers. Together, we share a vision of financial inclusion and driving economic development,” said M-PESA’s acting Chief Digital Finance Officer, Anthony Kang’ethe.
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The Kenyan telco launched commercial operations in Ethiopia in October 2022, and according to CEO, Peter Ndegwa, the company has covered 33% of the population… pic.twitter.com/JeQVa0d5RD
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 15, 2024
M-PESA parent, Safaricom, launched commercial operations in Ethiopia in October 2022 one of the first major entrants as Abiy Ahmed’s government began to liberalize the economy.
M-PESA Mobile Money Service Gets Licensed to Operate in Ethiopia – Africa’s Second Most Populous Nation
M-PESA is expected to bring stiff competition to Ethiopia’s sole mobile money operator, Telebirr, which was only launched in May 2021.https://t.co/s3KKSkrW0U pic.twitter.com/5powhjRMhJ
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 9, 2022
Since then, the financial sector has witnessed more linkages with M-PESA integrating with several local banks.
Ethiopia’s cabinet also recently approved 2 major laws that are set to bring further liberalization and modernization of the country’s financial sector, one of which includes introducing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
REGULATION | Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers Approves Major Financial Sector Reforms including Establishment of CBDC Regulatory Framework The central bank classifies digital currencies, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, https://t.co/ya5RQMoOex pic.twitter.com/NqW5RL9dE9
— Kichuu (@kichuu24) June 19, 2024
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