An interoperability and integration partnership was inked between Safaricom Ethiopia and Zemen Bank executives allowing the bank to work as a super agent for the M-Pesa mobile money platform last week. Safaricom has signed similar agreements with 10 commercial banks such as Hibret, Bank of Abyssinia and Abay as it establishes itself in the mobile money landscape that went live last month. While Safaricom has been operating in Ethiopia for about a year, it received its payment instrument issuer license from the central bank in May, setting the stage for the launch of its mobile money service. Zemen has managed to reach a total subscribed capital of 14 billion Br and passed the central bank's minimum paid-up capital requirement by 2 billion Br ahead of the 2026 deadline. A prior agreement between the two institutions had allowed Zemen to provide cash services for Safaricom agents. The Bank President Dereje Zenebe said they plan to remain at the forefront of digital solutions in banking during the ceremony at the recently inaugurated headquarters last week.

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