NCBA eyes Safaricom deal for Ethiopia digital banking launch
NCBA Group Managing Director John Gachora. NCBA is in talks with Safaricom for Ethiopia digital banking deal. They already teamed up with Safaricom locally with the launch of the mobile lending platform, M-Shwari in 2012.
NCBA Group is in talks with Safaricom among other firms to set up operations in Ethiopia, as part of a race to expand its digital banking services in the African region.
Last year, the bank announced plans to set up in Ghana, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through partnerships with telecoms and local banks in the countries in efforts to grow further into a regional bank.
NCBA Group CEO John Gachora has said the bank is in talks with the Kenyan telco that has recently begun operations in Ethiopia, among other possible partners in the country.
“In Ethiopia, we will certainly talk to Safaricom, but also other local banks that we can work with…or maybe work with Safaricom,” Mr Gachora said in an interview.
NCBA is already teamed up with Safaricom locally with the launch of the mobile lending platform, M-Shwari in 2012.
Also Read: Ethiopia grants Safaricom M-Pesa licence
The bank wants to replicate this model outside East Africa, in particular markets of Ethiopia and DRC—which have huge populations and a banking sector mainly focused on serving big companies, making them appealing to ambitious lenders in regional states in search of retail lenders and small traders for growth.
Safaricom launched its mobile network in Ethiopia in October last year, becoming the first private operator in the country with an estimated 118 million people.
It had grown its customer numbers to 2.8 million users by mid this month, less than six months after its entry. The telco has also been granted the license to operate mobile money services in Ethiopia, offering NCBA a mobile money transfer system for digital loans.
Mr Gachora said the bank has already set up an entity in Ghana, with a board and CEO.
“What we are looking at in Ghana is now getting the licences to operate. We had applied for licences and are at the tail end of that application. We should hopefully get licencing fairly soon,” he added.
The bank has set up a stand-alone and wholly-owned fintech entity, LOOP DFS Limited that will host all its digital loans platforms in Kenya and other countries where it operates.
Mr Gachora said they have received some licenses including payments service provider licences and digital credit provider licences in Kenya and some other countries and expect the fintech standalone to be fully operational in the second half and start reporting its financials.
