Shareholders of EthSwitch decided to raise its capital to three billion Birr in the next five years during the general assembly held at Sheraton Hotel last week. Chaired by Solomon Desta, the National Bank representative, company executives plan to float some of the equity to new financial technology companies. The national switch operator has reported 221 million Br in gross profit last year, registering a growth of 153pc from the previous year. EthSwitch provides a domestic card scheme with Ethiopia ATM card services co-branding with banks. It has partnered with nearly a dozen banks, enabling customers to issue transactions from any bank. Under Yilebes Addis, the company generated 329.8 million Br in revenues last year, facilitating transactions worth 171 million Br. Several commercial banks and the central bank established the company in 2019, with 80 million Br capital. With commercial banks participating in the Post-of-Sale (POS) interoperability service as both acquirers and issuers, transactions accounted for close to 16pc of the total 2.3 million worth 62.18 billion Br last year, climbing by 230pc compared to the previous year.