Huawei’s annual finance summit in Addis Abeba underscored the country’s accelerating shift toward digital finance, as policymakers, bankers and technology leaders described the country as an emerging fintech growth market. The event took place on June 24, 2026 at Sheraton Hotel, themed “Advancing Fintelegence, shaping a Smarter Ethiopia,” brought together stakeholders from across the financial and technology sectors. Huawei Ethiopia CEO Eric Yuan said Ethiopia has achieved in a few years what took other countries nearly 25 years in financial digitisation, crediting supportive policy frameworks, expanding digital infrastructure and rising adoption of financial technologies. Naol Addisu (PhD), Technology Advisor at the National Bank of Ethiopia, said digital transactions have surpassed 24 billion within nine months, reflecting rapid financial sector modernisation. He also noted that the central bank is preparing structural reforms to strengthen institutional independence and move toward a market-based foreign exchange regime by 2025.

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