Ethiopia has made progress on financial access. But access is not the same as use.
The draft National Finance Inclusion Strategy III shows significant gains in account ownership, digital credit and interest-free deposits. But the gaps are harder to ignore.
Only 21% of adults made transactions in 2025, despite 66% owning an account. Women received just 17.3% of loan value, while MSMEs accounted for 8.6% of private-sector credit.
Ethiopia’s next financial inclusion challenge may therefore have less to do with opening accounts, and much more to do with making them useful.
Read more.
https://shorturl.at/amOr6
The draft National Finance Inclusion Strategy III shows significant gains in account ownership, digital credit and interest-free deposits. But the gaps are harder to ignore.
Only 21% of adults made transactions in 2025, despite 66% owning an account. Women received just 17.3% of loan value, while MSMEs accounted for 8.6% of private-sector credit.
Ethiopia’s next financial inclusion challenge may therefore have less to do with opening accounts, and much more to do with making them useful.
Read more.
https://shorturl.at/amOr6