Telecom operator Safaricom is finalizing technical and commercial preparations for its M-Pesa digital payment service in the Ethiopian market, which is expected to be launched in the next financial year, which begins in April.
The announcement comes four months after Safaricom Ethiopia was approved to operate its mobile payment platform in Ethiopia. The approval from Addis Ababa allowed the operator to begin the process of obtaining a mobile payment service provider license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), which recently set a licensing fee of $150 million for mobile money services.
The launch of M-Pesa is expected to accelerate Safaricom's growth and introduce competition to Ethiopia's mobile money sector, which is currently dominated by incumbent operator Ethio Telecom's Telebirr service.
