FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS ADVERTORIALS FORTUNE AUDIO Fortune Careers TRADE AFRICA Election 2026 New TIME REMAINING UNTIL ETHIOPIA’S NATIONAL ELECTION 0Days 0Hours 0Minutes 0Seconds




Eth-Switch Secures $2.3m to Diversify Digital Services

Mar 13 , 2021


[ssba-buttons]

Eth-Switch, the company owned by a consortium of all banks including the National Bank of Ethiopia, which operates the national payment switch, received a 2.3-million-dollar grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The grant will be used to facilitate the design and use of digital financial services, including the digital distribution of payments such as social benefits, pensions and other government payments, e-commerce, the transport system and utility bills. The project will be implemented over a three-year period. The grant is resourced from the special fund of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a pan-African initiative that aims to facilitate digital financial inclusion for an estimated 332 million of the unbanked population across the African continent, almost two-thirds of whom are women. "The Eth-Switch project is braced to change the digital payments landscape in Ethiopia, and ADFI is happy to invest toward that impact,” said Sheila Okiro,  fund coordinator at ADFI, which was launched in June 2019 in partnership with the French Development Agency; the governments of France and Luxembourg; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and the AfDB, which also hosts the fund.  


Radar

Customs Commission Puts Government Transactions on Mesob

Public institutions must now process customs-related transactions through Mesob, a new electronic platform introduced to reduce manual procedures in government trade operations. The Customs Commission has directed the institutions to use the platform for customs clearance, transit processing, import and export procedures, transaction verification, and related services. Mesob became operational for public institutions on July 20, 2026, for customs services. Institutions must complete intern...


Radar

Addis Grants Extra Month for Residential Lease Renewals

Lessors and tenants in Addis Abeba have an extra month to renew residential lease agreements after the City Administration extended the registration deadline from August 6 to September 5, 2026. The Addis Abeba Housing Development & Administration Bureauattributed the extension to public requests for more time. Officials said it would ease congestion at registration centres and allow residents to complete the process more conveniently. The renewal exercise began in early July, following...


Radar

Government Procurement Goes Digital with 597b Br Turnover

More than 597 billion Br in government purchases passed through Ethiopia's electronic procurement platform during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, widening the use of digital systems in public finance. The platform was used by 172 federal institutions and 196 affiliated entities during the year. More than 135,000 suppliers were registered to provide goods and services through the system, which is intended to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in public procurement. The governmen...