With 18 years of financial sector experience under his belt, Abay Sime is Director of the Online Banking Department of the Bank of Abyssinia, which has over 6 million customers and 1,078 automated teller machines. The bank’s recent growth shows a doubling of its deposit base from ETB32 billion to 82 billion within the past year. The number of customers has also blossomed to its current 6 million. Yet, wide-ranging inclusion remains difficult owing to a variety of reasons, key of which is financial and digital literacy to which he recommends institutionalizing the matter in the nation’s education curriculum. EBR had an audience with Abay, who also argues that banks are competing for the same pie rather than reaching out to unbanked societies.

Abdiaziz Hassan,
CEO, Rays Microfinance

Having grown up in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Region, a group of six men observed potential in the community that raised them. They saw a zeal for trade and an awareness that embraces technological change and other dynamics. In 2014, they would set out to establish Rays Microfinance to tap that potential and turn it into profits. Having been licensed by the National Bank of Ethiopia, Rays was sabotaged by the region’s previous administration and did not make it into the financial sector. With the coming of the new administration, the company launched its services in 2020 and the founders are marching towards their ambitious goal of realizing a totally cashless society in Somali Region and beyond. EBR’s Addisu Deresse sat down with Abdiaziz Hassan, Chief Executive Officer of Rays, to talk about the journey, challenges, and prospects of the institution and the financial sector in general.