Digital lending platforms offer a promising and potentially transformative solution to the challenges of accessing credit in Ethiopia. These mobile-based platforms provide loans without requiring collateral or extensive paperwork.
This offers advantages over traditional methods, including greater financial inclusion. For lenders, they reduce costs, extend reach, manage risks, and enhance customer satisfaction.
For borrowers, they offer quicker, cheaper, and easier access to credit, along with opportunities for financial education and credit history building. Moreover, they facilitate the inclusion of more individuals in the financial system, particularly women, youth, rural residents, and informal sector workers.
In Ethiopia, digital lending platforms are still relatively new but growing rapidly. According to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), these platforms have demonstrated remarkable growth and impact. In the first nine months of the 2022/23 fiscal year, digital lending facilitated by Telebirr amounted to more than 3.6 billion birr in total credit. This figure represents a fourfold increase compared to the same period in the previous year, indicating a rapidly evolving sector.
The NBE has also emphasized that digital lending and financial inclusion are top priorities for the government in the realm of digital finance.
Here is a list of loan apps currently operating in Ethiopia:
Alegnta
Alegnta is a microloan application in Ethiopia brought to you by Lion International Bank. It offers an easy-to-use interface, allowing users to apply for and access loans in real time. However, users need a Lion Bank Account to qualify. T
he bank has allocated a 500-million-birr revolving fund for the digital loan service, which encompasses six different products, including Alegnta salary loans, Alegnta for ride and taxi drivers, Alegnta for small and medium enterprises, Alegnta for electronics and furniture purchases, and Alegnta for those in need of financial support.
Dube Ale
Dashen Bank and EagleLion System Technology have collaborated to launch “Dube Ale,” a new Buy-Now Pay-Later scheme that enables users to purchase goods and services on credit. This digital twist to Ethiopia’s traditional deferred payment scheme offers payment options in increments of three months, six months, or a year.
The service requires customers to be above 18 years of age and have a monthly income, which they can prove with documents such as a letter from their employer or a business license. The maximum spending limit on Dube Ale is currently set at 700,000 birr, and payments can only be made using the app, with withdrawals not permitted.
Related- How Dube Ale Works
Michu
Michu, from Coop Bank, is Ethiopia’s first uncollateralized digital lending product powered by Kifiya’s Qena, an AI-driven digital lending platform. It targets Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), providing loans ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 birr.
Interest on Michu ranges from 2% to 2.5% monthly, with a facility fee of 2% calculated on the approved loan amount. The app can be obtained from Coop Bank branches, where users must register and submit required documents. Once registered, users can request a loan, with the application and approval processes being automated.
Related- How to Take a Loan on Mich
Apollo
Apollo App, a digital bank powered by Bank of Abyssinia, allows users to open accounts from their homes through a fully digital onboarding process. Apollo is also gearing up to launch microcredit services, currently available to ride-hailing drivers.
Through a partnership with Little Ethiopia, drivers can access collateral-free loans of up to 120,000 birr, with a repayment period of three months and a 7.5% (2.5% monthly) service fee. The loans are tied to using Apollo for transactions and savings, which helps drivers build their credit scores.
Related- How Loans on Apollo Work
Telebirr
Ethio Telecom’s mobile money platform, Telebirr, is a major player in Ethiopia’s digital lending scene. It has partnered with Dashen Bank and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia to provide two microloan and savings services with different interest rates.
Related
- Telebirr Microloan services with Dashen Bank
- Telebirr Microloan services with Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
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