The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has released the draft National Digital Payments Strategy for 2026–2030, outlining plans to introduce outbound cross-border retail payments for the first time. The framework was presented at the Ethiopia Digital Payment Conference, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh, National Bank of Ethiopia governor Eyob Tekalign (PhD), Minister of Planning and Development Fitsum Assefa (PhD), the secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and senior officials from government institutions and the private sector.

The draft proposes policy guidance that would allow licensed banks, payment service providers, and microfinance institutions to facilitate low-value outbound transfers through cards, mobile wallets, and digital banking, subject to regulatory conditions. The central bank said the measure is intended to support individuals and small businesses that require modest cross-border transactions.

The strategy sets several quantitative targets for the next five years. Annual digital transactions per adult are expected to rise from 54 in 2025 to 275 by 2030. The value of digital payments is projected to increase from 82 percent of GDP in 2024 to 750 percent by 2030.

A national data-exchange platform is scheduled for development by 2030 to streamline interoperability across the financial system. The plan also seeks to narrow the rural–urban gap in digital-payment usage to 8 percentage points and reduce the gender divide to below 3 percentage points.

Additional targets include raising the 30-day active-use rate of transactional accounts from 16 percent to 60 percent and increasing the share of users making merchant payments from 24 percent to 60 percent. Digital credit, insurance, and savings products are expected to account for 3 percent of transaction value by 2030, while e-commerce transactions supported by the digital payments ecosystem are projected to reach 4 percent.

A national fraud-reporting framework is also proposed, with a compliance rate of at least 90 percent among providers.

The National Bank of Ethiopia said the draft will guide the sector’s development and regulatory priorities until 2030.