Ethiopia has granted Safaricom a licence to launch M-PESA.
The telco expects to roll out the mobile money services before the end of the year, which is set to lift the profile of the service.
The service was launched in Kenya in 2007.
“As of this morning (Thursday), Safaricom Ethiopia has officially been granted the licence to operate mobile money. We look forward to launching M-Pesa in the coming weeks,” chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa said during an investor briefing.
The telco paid $150 million as licence fees to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).
“We welcome this shift to the use of digital financial services so as to bring greater efficiency, safety, and transparency to the country’s rapidly growing financial system,” NBE said in a statement Thursday.
