M-PESA Introduces Free Money!

Welcome to the 65th edition of ፍራንክ Digest!

Your weekly brief on all things Finance and Investing. Quick, enjoyable reads for busy professionals in 5 minutes or less.

Here’s what’s coming your way:

• ⚡BUZZ: Ethiopia Goes on ‘Overdraft’

• ✒️ Signed, Sealed & (Hopefully) Delivered: Ethiopia’s Startup Law Is Here

• 🗝️ Big Picture/Key Takeaways

Thanks for reading!

BUZZ: Awash & M-PESA Are In A Relationship…And It’s Overdraft

Fintech

Move over Telebirr, M-PESA is breaking out those dancing shoes 👞 and doing the shuffle 🕺 to the bank.

Awash Bank that is.

News came in that the financial services wing of Safaricom had signed a deal with the largest private bank in Ethiopia. The event was for a new product called ‘Errif be M-PESA’ (እርፍ በኤም-ፔሳ)

As dotted lines were signed, hands were shook and chocolate ቶርታ cakes were cut, you could hear the obvious ‘we are gonna make stuff happen together’ gong sound in the background.

This is your typical deal making protocol in Ethiopian Finance.

New Territory

But what makes this deal special is that it could potentially have a seismic shift in the financial system: Errif be M-PESA is touted to be a digital credit and savings product, where Awash Bank will finance the loans (Same as what Dashen, CBE and Siinqee do on Telebirr).