Ethiopia’s national payment switch, EthSwitch, is exploring expanded cooperation with Huawei on artificial intelligence, payment infrastructure and cross-border payment connectivity with China. The discussions signal EthSwitch’s growing engagement with global financial technology partners as Ethiopia expands its interoperable payments ecosystem. Specifically, Ethiopia is committed to boosting mobile banking innovation, resilient payment infrastructure, AI applications to improve efficiency and security, cross-border payment collaboration with China’s payment and clearing ecosystem, and technical capacity building for Ethiopia’s financial technology sector.
The timing is significant. EthSwitch recently reported processing 387 million interoperable transactions worth ETB 1.26tn during the 2025/26 fiscal year, while posting ETB 2.6bn in pre-tax profit. The figures underscore the rapid expansion of Ethiopia’s digital payments market and the increasingly strategic role of the national switch in connecting banks and payment service providers across the country.
EthSwitch: backbone of Ethiopia’s electronic payments ecosystem
Established to deliver interoperable payment infrastructure, EthSwitch has become the backbone of Ethiopia’s electronic payments ecosystem, supporting ATM, point-of-sale, QR code, instant payment and gateway services that enable seamless transactions across financial institutions. As Ethiopia continues to liberalise and modernise its financial sector, the institution is playing an increasingly central role in supporting digital financial services and financial inclusion.
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Huawei, meanwhile, has steadily expanded its digital finance business globally, positioning itself as a technology partner to banks, central banks and national payment infrastructure operators. The company provides cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital banking solutions to financial institutions in more than 60 countries and says it serves thousands of financial-sector customers worldwide.
EthSwitch regards the discussions on cross-border payment cooperation with China’s payment and clearing ecosystem as particularly noteworthy. Closer connectivity could eventually facilitate faster and more efficient payment flows supporting trade, tourism and commercial transactions between Ethiopia and China, Ethiopia’s largest bilateral trading partner.
