Mastercard and EthSwitch have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the adoption and usage of digital payment systems of financial institutions. The agreement will enable Mastercard and EthSwitch to work together on enabling transfer of funds through a mobile phone application. It will also allow customers of the financial institutions to access a secured and swift transaction system.
Hijra Bank agrees with Rays Micro Finance to utilize Sahaypay mobile money, the fastest growing mobile money system in Ethiopia. The customers of the two financial institutions will be able to transfer finance once the agreement starts being implemented. Rays Micro Finance implements Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) to transfer money across banks.
Rays Microfinance Institution S.C. was established on in 2014. It finances goods, machineries, equipment, livestock trade, agriculture, construction, and small industries. Hijra Bank currently has 250,000 customers.
Source: The Ethiopian Herald
Awash Bank signed an agreement with Service Cops aiming to make digital microloans accessible to its 12 million customers. According to Service Cops, the digital microloan service will also reach non-bank customers in the future.
The Ministry of Labour and Skills is working to make government-guaranteed loans available to enterprises. During a consultation held on challenges faced by enterprises in Ethiopia, Nigusu Tilahun, State Minister of Ministry of Labour and Skills, stated that the envisaged scheme would solve financial challenges for enterprises and enhance their effectiveness.
The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) announced that it was ready to launch the fourth round of the National Training Program of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. The bank registered 435 thousand applicants for the training while its target was to train 50 thousand individuals.
