Interswitch has hosted a delegation from Ethiopia’s national payment switch, EthSwitch, at its Lagos headquarters. The visit focused on knowledge exchange and peer learning. Both organisations explored ways to strengthen payment infrastructure across Africa.
The engagement comes as EthSwitch develops a new five-year strategy. It is also working on a 15-year roadmap. Both plans are aimed at modernising Ethiopia’s payment system and expanding financial inclusion. People familiar with the discussions said the delegation sought practical insights from Interswitch’s experience in building and scaling payment infrastructure across African markets.
During the sessions, EthSwitch officials reviewed Interswitch’s business structure and governance processes. They also examined its product development approach and technology architecture. Operational resilience and platform security were discussed in detail. These areas have become more critical as digital payment volumes rise across the continent.
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Interswitch shared lessons from over two decades of operating interoperable payment systems. The discussions reflected the challenges of scaling in diverse regulatory and market environments. The exchange aligns with a broader trend among African payment operators to learn from peers. Many countries are accelerating cash-lite policies and expanding digital financial services.
Akeem Lawal, managing director for payment processing and switching at Interswitch, said collaboration among African payment institutions is increasingly important. He noted that structured knowledge-sharing can support regional interoperability. It can also help operators build scalable and resilient digital payment platforms.
EthSwitch said the visit would inform its strategic planning process. Yilebes Addis, chief executive officer of EthSwitch, said Ethiopia’s payments ecosystem is undergoing rapid change. He pointed to innovation, infrastructure expansion, and efficiency as key priorities. He said insights from Interswitch were relevant to shaping the country’s future payments architecture.
No formal partnership was announced. However, both organisations discussed areas of shared interest. These included regional interoperability, payment acceptance, and platform scalability. Analysts say such engagements could reduce fragmentation in Africa’s payments market. They could also support cross-border trade and financial inclusion.