Ethiopia’s digital finance landscape just got a serious upgrade.
In a landmark moment for the country’s fintech scene, SantimPay officially launched its Point-of-Sale (POS) Device Assembly Manufacturing Plant inside the Ethiopian Science Museum today. The event, graced by H.E. Dr. Belete Molla, Minister of Innovation and Technology, marks a bold step in localizing fintech hardware production, a first of its kind in the country.
But this isn’t just about gadgets. It’s about flipping the switch on how Ethiopia does payments.
From Import Bottlenecks to Local Breakthroughs
Until now, Ethiopia’s digital payment hardware has been almost entirely imported. That meant high costs, complex logistics, and a market that’s long lagged behind its East African peers.
SantimPay is changing that, fast.
The new factory can churn out up to 3,000 POS machines a day, with an ambitious target to deploy over 23,000 devices across the country. The best part? Merchants get these devices at zero upfront cost. Instead, the monetization flows through backend integrations with partner banks and financial institutions, a model we’ve seen win big in India, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Not Just Hardware, It’s a Fintech Play
This launch is the latest in a string of big moves by SantimPay:
- In May, the company teamed up with Bank of Abyssinia to launch FrankRemit, Ethiopia’s first zero-fee, fully integrated digital remittance platform.
- Earlier this year, SantimPay bagged the Global Brand Frontier Award for “Most Innovative Payment Solution – Ethiopia, 2024.”
- The company is also pushing to become a licensed switch operator — meaning it could soon sit at the center of how digital transactions flow across banks and wallets.
In short, they’re not just building devices, they’re building rails.
Why This Matters
Ethiopia has about 20,000 POS devices nationwide, many sitting idle due to licensing and hardware constraints. For comparison, Kenya crossed 200,000 active POS devices years ago. With SantimPay’s local assembly, POS terminals become affordable, scalable, and customizable, a direct enabler for Ethiopia’s cash-lite ambitions.
What’s Next?
- 23,000+ POS devices to be deployed nationwide
- Expansion into rural merchant networks
- Full integration with wallets like Telebirr, M-Pesa, CBE Birr
- Potential switch operator license?
SantimPay’s move to localize POS hardware is a classic case of infrastructure first, scale second. It’s a bet that Ethiopia’s digital economy can’t grow on imported rails — it needs homegrown infrastructure, built by companies that understand the market from the inside out.
And if it works, this isn’t just a factory. It’s the backbone of Ethiopia’s next payment revolution.