Equity Group Holdings Ltd.’s financial technology unit said it was discussing with six Ethiopian banks to cooperate on cross-border mobile payments and ecommerce.

Finserve Africa Ltd.’s Managing Director Jack Ngare said on Monday that the company is aiming remittances from three million of Ethiopian Diasporas. Many African nations are eying Ethiopia as a result of the country’s recent announcement that it will open up its economy for foreign investment.

Ethiopians abroad sent back around USD 4.6 billion last year, about a quarter of the nation’s annual foreign-exchange earnings. The Managing Director said, “We are going to be doing inward remittances, and that’s a good thing for Ethiopia, because they need to attract a lot of the foreign exchange.” He added that the discussions are expected to be concluded in three to six months.

Finserve Africa Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenya’s biggest lender by market value.

Source: Bloomberg