Ethiopia: Safaricom integrates M-Pesa into national payment network
October 28th 2025
M-Pesa was commercially launched in Ethiopia in August 2023, about a year after mobile services. The platform primarily competes with Telebirr, the service of the incumbent operator Ethio Telecom.
Mobile phone company Safaricom Ethiopia has integrated its M-Pesa mobile money platform with the national payment network EthSwitch. The initiative, announced on Monday, October 27, now enables full interoperability between M-Pesa and some fifteen banks and mobile wallets, with further integrations planned in the coming weeks.
“M-Pesa customers can now send money directly from their wallets to any EthSwitch-connected bank account or make payments to merchants that accept bank-issued EthQR codes. Bank customers who do not have an M-Pesa account can now send money to M-Pesa wallets or pay M-Pesa merchants by scanning M-Pesa EthQR codes through their mobile banking apps,” M-Pesa Ethiopia said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.
This integration is part of Safaricom Ethiopia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its market presence since launching operations in August 2023. In July 2024, the company signed an agreement with the national electricity company to enable bill payments via M-Pesa. In October 2024, it expanded its M-Pesa Global service to Ethiopia, paving the way for money transfers between Kenya and Ethiopia.
In March 2025, Safaricom Ethiopia entered into a partnership with fintech Lakipay to facilitate merchant payments. It also signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health to establish a digital payment system dedicated to the national healthcare sector. In May, the company announced the upcoming launch of savings and loan services via its mobile platform.
These initiatives come as Telebirr, the mobile payment service of incumbent Ethio Telecom, continues to consolidate its dominant market position, notably through the diversification of its services. In April 2025, the company signed a 15 billion birr ($99.14 million) agreement with Siinqee Bank to develop products such as mobile savings, microcredit, payday loans, financing for micro and small businesses, merchants and agents, and mobile device financing. By 2028, the operator aims to have 75 million Telebirr subscribers and an estimated transaction value of 21.3 trillion birr.
M-Pesa, for its part, had 2.4 million 90-day active subscribers at the end of May 2025, for a total of more than 10 million subscribers at the end of 2024. The service relies on a network of 42,000 merchants. It recorded, at the end of the 2025 financial year (March 31), 164.6 million transactions for a total value of 20.6 billion Kenyan shillings ($159.4 million).
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