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- 🦕 Rise of The SuperApps
Welcome to the 64th 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:
✨ Banks New Shiny Weapon: SuperApps
🔔 Ding Ding Again: This Time For Real
🗝️ The Key Takeaways
Thanks for reading!
Here Comes SuperApp 🕺
Fintech
Nib Bank, the sometimes under the radar, 25+ year old commercial bank is making buzzing noises in our ears with their new ‘SuperApp’.
It seems that the management was feeding on some nectar in the last few months, as a new flower has blossomed in the meadow (Okay, we promise, this is the last ‘bee’ 🐝 pun).
Nibtera is touted to be the next superapp of the financial world ‘offering integrated mobile banking, internet banking, and merchant services into a single platform’
Nib is the latest to show off its new toy to the public, after Dashen took their turn to bring every tech starved consumer to the yard.
Suddenly, tech is a huge deal for banks.
And better yet, they are taking on the challenge in house: Nib apparently used an internal team to develop most of Nibtera in just 3 months! Some of us can’t even go through a chapter reading a book during that time…አይዞን.
🤔 What is this really about?
Enter Telebirr.
Telebirr was the first real financial consumer app that was put on the market with the goal of bringing transactions online. The app soon became ubiquitous amongst users (mostly due to it being gently suggested by the government to be used almost EVERYWHERE).
Soon after, Ethio Tele announced that it would be turning Telebirr into a superapp in late March 2023, bringing together services such as utility payments, e-commerce, logistics services and credit facilitations among other things.
The company took inspiration from some of Asia's successful tech companies; mainly Grab, Tencent and Alibaba.
Their respective apps WeChat and Alipay are a one stop shop for everything related to financial services, although their reach stretches beyond, with mortgage lending and insurance services part of their core offerings.
🤌 Banks are getting in on the action. Why now?
Well they are feeling left behind.
Technology initiatives has been neglected for years, apart from the necessary investments in core banking solutions and data centers, the banking sector has always been skeptical of pouring money into a consumer facing application.
Have you tried some of the bank mobile apps? Jesus. Makes you wonder if they used chisels in the design process - although there are exceptions, we’re not bashing anyone in particular here.
Well maybe Zemen a bit. ‘Our Zemen readers, let’s get to work on that one pronto, እሺ?’
The ‘Why now’ question is simple - digitization is one of the pillars of most financial services institutions' strategic goals. So it’s no surprise that Nib introduced Nibtera following the unveiling of their five-year road map and a three-year strategic plan.
The National Bank is also pushing for digital reforms. Just last week, its Banking Supervision Division led by Ato Frezer Ayalew quietly organized a session with foreign participants regarding the need to bolster cybersecurity at all levels and integrate emerging technologies. A positive move.
This was also a reminder of the imminent introduction of foreign banks. They are bringing in more resources and have a more robust digital ecosystem, which could be a friendly competition reminder to the local players or a potential real threat to the establishment.
Either way, superapps are essentially a preventive move. But are they the right one?
🔮 Moving forward: a recipe for disaster or a solution for the ages?
One of the more exciting features is digital lending.
COOP has Michu, Abyssinia rolled out Apollo, Dashen pushes Dube Ale, Enat leans on Malefiya and many others have been making their foray into the digital lending scene.
It goes back to the undeniable truth: Ethiopia has many unbanked people. Reaching them all is tall order and that’s why banks are switching their strategies ➡ ️Less branch openings. More online accounts ✅.
Because the Pros definitely outweigh the Cons: you’ve probably seen bank clerks in suits and ties walking around the city corridors, pen and paper in their hands, looking for potentials to open an account.
That’s not sustainable, if anything, it’s a waste of precious resources.
With access to a digital platform, the intimidation of going to a bank is thrown out the window, the process is much faster and options are galore.
Access to credit is slowly opening up due to this. Digital lending does not require collateral, it shields the risk of the credit default with a smaller loan size, profiling borrowers more on transaction data than anything else.
Lending buttons can be found on these three super apps. Press them and you can see what you can qualify for. This is progress 💪
Yet, the main question here is, why a superapp when the core features of a mobile banking app can be improved? Most digital products fail because they fail to address the main issues.
With the banks, it just seems a case of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’. Smarter moves are needed but the direction is promising.
Key Takeaways
Superapp: Telebirr launched it, Dashen followed it and now Nib stepped it up. The financial services sector is going all in on the ‘all in one’ app concept, consolidating multiple services together.
A Need? Banks have traditionally shied away from offering robust consumer facing apps, this move shows a change in perspective. Tech is becoming the main focus, not just in the sector but even from the authorities point of view.
Direction forward: Smart moves are required but he goal is clear, digital is the way to go. Yet, the objectives seem to miss their targets. Consumers want simple apps not bloated app farms.
ፍራንክ Picks
🗞️ In the news: M-PESA x Awash Bank Now Offer Overdrafts
♟️ Innovation: Odoo offering tailored ERP systems
🧾 Treasury Bills Just Got Listed!
Economy
Yes, you heard right. Ethiopia has officially launched its capital market, and the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) is open for business. For the first time, we’ll be seeing treasury bills (T-bills) and potentially bank equities (Wegagen and Gadaa) being traded in the open.
Now, we know everyone’s excited about shares (equity), but let’s talk about the quieter sibling—fixed income. It may not grab headlines like bank IPOs, but it’s where the smart money often goes, especially when you're thinking long-term. It’s also most likely to dominate the majority of trading value on ESX’s platform.
💸 So, what exactly is Fixed Income?
You lend money to someone (usually a government or company), and they pay you interest—on time, every time—until they give your principal money back. That’s fixed income in a nutshell. Common types include:
Treasury securities (like the new ESX-listed T-bills!)
Corporate bonds
Time deposits at your local bank
Why Should You Care?
✅ Pays regularly (think biannual interest payments or lump-sum returns at maturity)
✅ Comes with lower risk (compared to stocks)
✅ Changes with interest rates (prices go up when rates fall, and vice versa)
🧠 T-bills as a Savings Strategy
T-bills are debts issued by the government, usually safe, unless, well, the government doesn’t pay. 😬
Sound familiar? Ethiopia recently defaulted on its Eurobond, so investors will be cautious. That’s where credit rating agencies come in to help the market judge how risky our government debt really is.
But looking at the figures? The current T-bill yields are looking very attractive.
📊 Let’s Talk Numbers (based on the June 25 Auction):
🔍 Compare an 18.35% yield for T-bills to a bank savings account giving you just 7% interest. You could almost hear your savings crying from inside the bank vault.
More importantly, the listing on the capital market means T-bills are liquid, you can sell at any point according to your liquidity needs. Just 📞 your broker or investment bank... maybe even on your favorite SuperApp.
💡 Wait, What Does Yield Even Mean?
Glad you asked. Yield tells you what you’re really earning. It adjusts for the bond’s price in the market, because prices won’t stay still in the capital market.
🔄 The Golden Rule
When interest rates go up, bond prices go down.
When rates go down, bond prices go up.
🧾 A Quick Example
You buy a bond for ETB 1,000 with a coupon rate of 18% and maturity 1 year.
You will earn ETB 180 at the end of the year ending up with a total of ETB 1,180.
Now, interest rates may rise to 20% on the next round of auction while you’re still holding on to yours. New bonds now pay ETB 200 per year. So why would anyone buy your ETB 180 bond at full price?
To compete, your bond’s price drops to around ETB 900, because:
ETB180 / 900 = 20% — matching the new market rate.
What if rates fall to 16%?
Suddenly, your bond looks like a superstar. People will pay up to ETB 1,125 because:
ETB180 / 1,125 = 16%
🔍 Economic Impact
Why would interest rates even change in the first place? Well, it depends on financing options available to the government to fill budgetary gaps. In times of plenty, interest rates will fall and vice versa.
Market based government borrowing practices is expected to:
Enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy to control inflation
Encourage government projects to be economically sound
Reduce the risk of choking capital access for private businesses.
🚀 What’s Next for You?
With the government aiming to close a 188 billion birr deficit this year, it’s expected to issue treasury bills to raise cash. You can invest with as little as 4,700 birr.
And hey, if you’re trying to beat inflation, save smarter, and support infrastructure (ኮሪደር ልማት, schools, ዳቦ ፋብሪካ) this could be your moment.
After all, the capital market is finally here, and it’s not just for the suits in finance. It’s for anyone ready to let their money work harder, maybe even smarter.
Key Takeaways
Now Live on ESX: With Ethiopia's capital market officially launched, treasury bills and equity are now publicly listed, giving local investors new, regulated ways to earn returns and easy price discovery.
Better Returns: The average yield for treasury bills is 18.35%, compared to just 7% on a typical bank savings account. That’s a major upgrade for anyone looking to grow their money.
Bond Prices & Interest Rates: Understanding the inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices is key to making smart fixed income investments. As rates rise, prices fall—and vice versa.
Thanks for sticking with us, ፍራንክ family! Keep those wallets smart and your inbox open - we’ll be sliding in next week!
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