Interswitch Hosts EthSwitch as Ethiopia Seeks to Learn From Its Payments Ecosystem
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Interswitch has hosted a delegation from EthSwitch as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration and knowledge sharing across Africa’s payments ecosystem.
The visit underscores Interswitch’s ongoing commitment to advancing payment systems on the continent through collaboration, capacity building, and shared innovation. The engagement formed a key part of EthSwitch’s work on its next five-year strategy and 15-year roadmap, which are focused on modernising Ethiopia’s payments landscape and deepening financial inclusion.
By engaging with Interswitch, widely regarded as one of Africa’s most successful and resilient payment infrastructure providers, the EthSwitch delegation sought practical insights from proven operational and governance models to support its long-term transformation agenda.
During the engagement, the EthSwitch team explored Interswitch’s business architecture, corporate governance frameworks, product development processes, technology stack, operational excellence standards, and platform security systems. The sessions highlighted the depth of Interswitch’s capabilities and its pioneering role in delivering secure, interoperable payment systems across Africa for more than two decades.
Akeem Lawal, Managing Director, Payment Processing and Switching at Interswitch Purepay, delivered a detailed overview of the company’s diverse business lines. He explained how Interswitch’s integrated ecosystem supports daily transactions, enables innovation, and empowers partners to scale digital payment solutions across multiple markets.
Lawal reaffirmed Interswitch’s commitment to collaboration across Africa, noting that structured knowledge-sharing engagements are critical to strengthening regional interoperability and accelerating digital transformation within the financial services sector.
“At Interswitch, we believe Africa’s progress is accelerated when institutions learn from one another and work together toward shared goals,” he said. “Engagements like this deepen interoperability, inspire innovation, and strengthen the digital foundations that power the continent’s financial ecosystem. We remain committed to supporting partners like EthSwitch as we collectively drive Africa’s digital transformation forward.”
Yilebes Addis, Chief Executive Officer of EthSwitch, outlined Ethiopia’s ambitions for its evolving financial system, with a focus on driving innovation, expanding critical infrastructure, and improving overall ecosystem efficiency. He described the insights gained from the visit as valuable inputs for shaping EthSwitch’s strategic blueprint.
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