Ethiopia is opening up for business - Safaricom to launch M-Pesa services

MMNN

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed Ali has confirmed Safaricom will launch M-Pesa Services in the country. The mobile money system is expected to rope in millions of the country’s unbanked population

I was expecting this to be filed under Jubilee Development. Alafu wachukue credit for Dr Abiy’s work.

(By others not @Okwonkwo :D)

Expect safaricom share to hit the roof

Lol. Am not a sycophant. I give credit where it’s due and criticize where necessary.

This is Ahmed Development. He’s doing it for Ethiopia. The ET government led economy had become unsustainable but no one had the guts to venture out of the script, until Ahmec came along.

is it me ama people are so stingy hawataki kuuza shares zao za the Green Elephant.

I had 10,000 and sold them on the cheap in 2012 after getting disgusted with falling share prices.

I have seen a lot of quotes on the same but none from PM Abiy himself. Mpesa will be a great success in Ethiopia with 90 million citizens and 95% of them are unbanked. However I wouldn’t be quick to celebrate their entry there until its confirmed.

They might be closer to ink the deal, but indeed let’s wait for official communication from Safaricom and ET officials.

https://qz.com/1330712/ethiopia-to-get-m-pesa-mobile-money-from-safaricom-kenya/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safaricom-ethiopia-exclusive/exclusive-kenyas-safaricom-in-advanced-talks-to-take-m-pesa-to-ethiopia-idUSKBN1K715H

It’s a small geographic move across borders for Kenya’s Safaricom but potentially, it is a giant step that could transform the story of mobile money and financial inclusion in Africa.

The telecom company is reportedly in advanced talks with Ethiopian officials to introduce its popular mobile money service M-Pesa in the country, according to Reuters. The state telecommunications monopoly Ethio Telecom will carry the service, while Safaricom will host the servers back in Nairobi. If this goes ahead, the deal will present Safaricom with a lucrative opportunity to grow revenue and deposits in a market more than twice the size of its home country, with over 100 million Ethiopians. The service’s introduction could also have a notable impact on Ethiopians, who could use it to not only send and receive money but also borrow, save, and pay for services.

Ouch!

And now? Any regrets

What opportunity could be there for a foreign investor like me ? Dealer?

No regrets, if I was to regret everything I have ever done I would be dead by now.

The problem isn’t getting your money in but getting it out.

True kabisa, with severe forex shortfalls in Ethiopia it will be a gamble to get you money out of the country. This is the main reason all projects in Ethiopia have stalled. Example are Kenyan banks experience with south Sudan. KQ has millions of $$$ stuck in Nigeria. MTN south Africa is even worse in Nigeria.

They have to open their economic books and growth for scrutiny. Safaricom can’t get there blindly

talk to the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, they can advice you better.

in Ethiopia, foreign currency is a major pain. you pay for a hotel in dollars and they insist the receipt has to be in birr. then if you had changed say dollars to birrs, to get back the dollars you have to have the receipts. then they advise people to declare the amount of currency you carry in as they can check your bag for currency you are carrying out. very strict on forex.

So when did you start working in Ethiopian State House.
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I like this new President of Ethiopia has the vigor and courage to transform it… If we sleep Ethiopia will be the new China right next door.

I’ve got a 1,000 safaricom shares i wonder how much they cost today…

Also maybe we can bring back the merger deal between KQ and ET and we create a strong airline that will directly take over the African aviation market…