In Ethiopia, mobile payment platform M-Birr has secured approval from DEG, the German Development Finance Bank, for €4 million ($4.8 million) grant to support its expansion.

According to the lender’s executives, the goal is to reinforce financial inclusion in the country of 85 million inhabitants, of which significant part is excluded from the financial system. Indeed, more than three quarters of adults in Ethiopia are underbanked according to the DEG.

M-Birr was launched in Ethiopia by the Irish company MOSS ICT and according to data provided by the German bank, more than a million customers had already subscribed to it in December 2017. 

The platform was set up with the assistance of the five largest microfinance companies in Ethiopia. One of its added values ​​is to allow transactions between microfinance and banks, which brings it closer to its competitor Hellocash.

Chamberberline Moko