By: Tewodros Balcha
Ethiopia’s
national payment switch, EthSwitch, has presented a Unified Government Payment
Platform designed to bring fragmented public bill-payment channels onto a
single interoperable network, as the country pursues wider financial-sector and
digital-payment reforms.
The platform,
known as UGPP, was presented at the Ethiopia Finance Forum 2026 by Kidus
Menfese, Senior Business Analyst at EthSwitch. The forum, convened by the
National Bank of Ethiopia from September 29 to October 1, brings together
policymakers, financial institutions, investors, development partners and
industry leaders as Ethiopia works to strengthen its financial sector, expand
financial inclusion and accelerate digital transformation.
Ethiopia is
undertaking broad economic and financial reforms covering the foreign-exchange
market, monetary policy, financial-sector regulation and greater private-sector
participation. The National Bank has also been pursuing a second phase of its
national digital-payments strategy, with greater interoperability and expanded
digital financial services among its priorities.
Against that
backdrop, EthSwitch presented UGPP as a way of addressing fragmentation in
government payments, where public agencies and billers can maintain separate
integrations with financial institutions and customers may have to navigate
different platforms and channels to settle bills.
Its purpose is
to establish a common national payment infrastructure that enables different
financial institutions and customer-facing payment platforms to connect to
government services through one interoperable system. The Unified Government
Payment infrustructure is using an architectural approach that ensures
interoperability and enables payment solutions to be unified through the
national switch. Customers would be able to make payments through mobile
applications, ATMs, USSD, bank branches and agents, using account-based
payments, QR codes and alias-based payments.
The
presentation also outlined how the platform could connect government billers,
financial institutions, payment channels and customers within a more integrated
payment ecosystem. The initiative is closely aligned with the National Bank of
Ethiopia’s digital-payments roadmap. The bank’s 2026–2030 draft strategy
identifies fragmentation in government payment collections and disbursements as
a challenge and calls for a unified e-government service platform to centralize
public-service payments.
During the
forum, EthSwitch also briefed Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh, Finance
Minister Ahmed Shide and NBE Governor Eyob Tekalign on its services and role in
Ethiopia’s digital financial infrastructure, according to the company.
EthSwitch has
positioned its work on person-to-government and government-to-person payments
within Ethiopia’s Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy, the National Digital Payments
Strategy and the broader development of digital public infrastructure.
The Ethiopia
Finance Forum is taking place at the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum in Addis
Ababa. Its 2026 programme includes discussions on macroeconomic reform,
financial inclusion, banking-sector investment, digital public infrastructure
and the future development of Ethiopia’s financial sector.
