A row of kiosks around the Stadium area were painted green to mark their functions as Telebirr agents. Ethiotelecom’s two-year-old mobile banking platform has stormed the digital finance landscape, reaching 34 million subscribers. The preferential access given to the state operator in facilitating several utility payments and its near monopoly over fuel payments has set up the centenarian service provider with a comfortable cushion in the foreseeable future. While Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-pesa service launched in late September, it must significantly penetrate the market to catch up to state-owned telco’s access to more than 70 million mobile subscribers. The scope and ease of use of digital finance tools are set to disrupt the long-standing dominance of the traditional banking industry in the coming few years, especially in Africa.
