ዳሸን ባንክ ከአክሲዮን (Accion) እና ማስተር ካርድ ጋር በመተባበር አነስተኛ ቢዝነሶች  ዲጂታል ኢኮኖሚን እንዲቀላቀሉ የሚያግዝ የኢኖቬሽን የልህቀት ማዕከል ለማቋቋም ስምምነት አደረጉ

Feb 18, 2025

በኢትዮጵያ ግንባር ቀደም የግል ባንክ የሆነው ዳሸን ባንክ ለትርፍ ካልተቋቋመው ዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅት አክሲዮን (Accion) እና ማስተርተካርድ ሴንተር ፎር ኢንክሉሲቭ ግሮውዝ ጋር በመተባበር የአነስተኛ ቢዝነሶችን የፋይናንስ ፍላጎት በዲጂታል አገልግሎት ለማሟላት የሚያሰችል አዲስ የኢኖቬሽን የልህቀት ማዕከል ለማቋቋም ስምምነት አደረጉ፡፡

በዚህ ስምምነት መሰረት አክሲዮን ዳሸን ባንክ ለጥቃቅን አነስተኛና መካከለኛ ኢንተርፕራዞች የዲጂታል ባንክ አገልግሎትና በተለይም በሴቶች ባለቤትነት የሚመሩ ቢዝነሶችን ለመደገፍ ለሚያቋቁመው የኢኖቬሽን ልህቀት ማዕከል ግንባታ ድጋፍ የሚያደርግ ይሆናል፡፡

በኢትዮጵያ ወደ ሁለት ሚሊዮን የሚደርሱ የአነስተኛ፣ መካከለኛና ጥቃቅን ኢንተርፕራይዞች ኢኮኖሚውን በማንቀሳቀስ ረገድ ትልቅ አስተዋፅኦ የሚያደርጉ ሲሆኑ ነገር ግን ከዚህ ውስጥ የብድር አገልግሎት ተጠቃሚ የሆኑት 1.9 በመቶ አነስተኛ እና 6 በመቶ ጥቃቅን ኢንተርፕራይዞች ብቻ ናቸው፡፡በአገሪቱ በጥቃቅን አነስተኛና መካከለኛ ኢንተርፕራዞች  ዘርፍ ያለው የፋይናንስ ክፍተት 4.2 ቢሊዮን ዶላር እንደሚሆን ይገመታል።ሥራ አጥነት፣ አነስተኛ ገቢ እና የፋይናንስ ግንዛቤ እጥረት ለመደበኛ የፋይናንስ አገልግሎት እጦት ቁልፍ ምክንያቶች ሆነው ቆይተዋል።ከዚህም በላይ 55 በመቶ ከሆነው የወንዶች ድርሻ ጋር ሲነፃፀር በመደበኛ የፋይናንስ ተቋም ውስጥ የባንክ ሂሳብ (አካውንት) ያላቸው ሴቶች 39 በመቶ ብቻ ሲሆኑ ይህም እያደገ በመጣው የዲጂታል ፋይናንስ ስነ-ምህዳር እንዳይጠቀሙ ከማድረጉም በላይ እና ለአገሪቱ ኢኮኖሚ እድገት የሚያደርጉትን አስተዋጽኦ ገድቦታል፡፡

ዳሸን ባንክ በኢትዮጵያ አዳዲስ የዲጂታል ፋይናንስ አገልግሎቶችን በማስተዋወቅ ግንባር ቀደም ሆኖ ቆይቷል።በተለይም የአነስተኛ ቢዝነስ ባለቤቶች እንከን አልባ የገንዘብ ልውውጥ እንዲያደርጉ የሚያግዛቸውን የዲጂታል ዋሌት በቅድሚያ ካስተዋወቁ ባንኮች ዳሸን ቀዳሚው ነው፡፡አሁንም ከአክሲዮን ጋር በመሆን የሚገነባው የኢኖቬሽን ልህቀት ማዕከል በዋናነት ዓላማ ያደረገው በኢትዮጵያ በተለምዶ በጥሬ ገንዘብ ላይ ተንጠልጥለው አገልግሎታቸውን የሚያቀርቡትንና ጥቂት ንብረቶች ያላቸው በተለይም በትላልቅ ባንኮች ዕይታ ውስጥ ላልገቡ የአነስተኛ፣ መካከለኛና ጥቃቅን ኢንተርፕራይዞች አዳዲስ መፍትሄ ለማቅረብ ነው፡፡

የዳሸን ባንክ ዋና ስራ አስፈፃሚ አቶ አስፋው አለሙ እንዳሉት “አነስተኛ ቢዝነሶች ለአገሪቱ ኢኮኖሚ እድገት ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅኦ ቢያደርጉም በተለይም በሴቶች የሚመሩ አነስተኛ የንግድ ተቋማት ከፍተኛ የፋይናንስ ፈተናዎች ይገጥሟቸዋል። ይህም የሆነበት ምክንያት በአብዛኛው በጥሬ ገንዘብ ላይ የተመሰረቱ ግብይቶች ላይ በመመስረትን የንግድ ሥራቸው በቂ ባልሆነና መደበኛ የፋይናንስ መዛግብት ሳይጠቀሙ በመስራታቸው እንዲሁም ሴቶች በንብረት ላይ የባለቤትነት መብት በማጣት የመያዣ መስፈርቶችን ካለማሟላት ጋር የሚያያዝ ነው።በዚህ አጋርነት እነዚህን ተግዳሮቶች ለመቅረፍ፣ የዳሸን ባንክን የአገልግሎት አቅም ለመገንባት፣ የብድር አቅርቦቶቻቸንን በማሻሻል የአነስተኛ የንግድ ባለቤቶችን ፍላጎት ለማሟላት እንዲሁም የተለያዩ ዲጂታል አገልግሎቶችንና ንግዶቻቸውን በተሳካ ሁኔታ ለማሳደግ የሚያስፈልጋቸውን ግብዓቶች እንዲያገኙ የሚያስችል የንድፈ ሃሳብ አገልግሎት ድጋፍ ለማድረግ የምንረባረብ ይሆናል፡፡

የዳሸን ባንክ ቺፍ ዲጂታል እና ኢንፎርሜሽን ኦፊሰር አቶ ዮሃንስ ሚሊዮን እንደተናገሩት፣ ዳሸን ባንክ ስድስተኛውን የስትራቴጂክ ዕቅድ ቀርፆ ወደ ስራ ሲያስገባ ከያዛቸው አበይት ተግባራት(Initiatives) አንዱ የኢኖቬሽን ልህቀት ማዕከል መገንባትና የአነስተኛና መካከለኛ ኢንተርፕራይዞች (Medium and Small Enterprises-MSME) አገልግሎቶችን የማቅረብ አቅም መጨመር ነው ብለዋል።በተጨማሪም ይህ የባንኩ እርምጃ የፋይናንስ አካታችነት እንዲሁም የፈጠራ አገልግሎት የታከለባቸውን የዲጂታል አገልግሎቶችን በማቅረብ ኢኮኖሚን መገንባትን የሚለውን አላማ ያደረገ ነው ብለዋል።

የጋራ ስምምነቱን መሰረት በማድረግ አክሲዮን፣ በተለይም ዳሸን ባንክ የአነስተኛ፣ መካከለኛና ጥቃቅን ኢንተርፕራይዞችን ታሳቢ አድርጎ የሚያቀርባቸውን አዳዲስ አገልግሎቶች ሰው ሰራሽ አስተውህሎ (Artificial Intelligence-AI) በመጠቀም በተለይም በሴቶች ባለቤትነት የሚተዳደሩ ቢዝነሶች ምቹ የሆነ አዲስ የብድር አመዘጋገገብ ሞዴል እንዲኖራቸው ለማዘጋጀት ይረዳል፡፡ይህንን የተመዘገበ መረጃና ጥናትን መሰረት በማድረግ አዲስ የሚገነባው የኢኖቬሽን ልህቀት ማዕከል  ቢዝነሶች ከብድር አቅራቢ ደንበኞቻቸው እንደ ብድር ያሉ መፍትሄዎችን ለማቅረብ፣ አካታች የቢዝነስ አገልግሎቶች፣ ፋይናንስ ነክ ያልሆኑ እንደ የቢዝነስ አስተዳደር ያሉ መፍትሄዎችን ለማገዝ የሚረዳ ይሆናል፡፡

ዳሸን ባንክ በዚህ ወቅት የኢኖቬሽን ልህቀት ማዕከሉን ዕውን ለማድረግ ጨረታ አውጥቶ፣ አስፈላጊውን የግንባታ ቅድመ ዝግጅት አጠናቋል።ይህ ፈር ቀዳጅ ግንባታ “ሁልጊዜ አንድ እርምጃ ቀዳሚ” ብሎ የተነሳውን ባንክ ቁርጠኝነት ከማሳየት ባሻገር በኢትዮጵያ የፋይናንስ ዘርፍ ያለውን የቀዳሚነትና ፈርቀዳጅነት ሚና የሚያጠናክር ይሆናል።በቀጣይ ለባንኩ ከፍተኛ አመራሮችና ሰራተኞች የኢኖቬሽን ወርክሾፕ የሚዘጋጅ ሲሆን፣ በተለይም አርቴፊሻል  ኢንተለጀንስን ጨምሮ ወቅቱ ያፈራቸው ቴክኖሎጂዎች አጠቃቀምን በተመለከተ ከዓለም አቀፉ የቴክኖሎጂ ኩባንያው አብሮ ለመስራት ታቅዷል ብለዋል።

የአክሲዮን ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት እና የመካከለኛው ምስራቅ እና አፍሪካ አማካሪ የሆኑት ራሊያት ሱሞኑ አንዳሉት፣ “ኢትዮጵያ በአፍሪካ በፍጥነት በማደግ ላይ ካሉ ኢኮኖሚዎች አንዷ ነች እና ትናንሽ ቢዝነሶች ደግሞ ይህንን እድገት በማስፋፋት ረገድ ወሳኝ ሚና ይጫወታሉ።በዚህ ትብብር በፋይናንስ ኢኖቬሽን ውስጥ መሪ ከሆነው ከዳሸን ባንክ እና ሌሎች ስትራቴጂክ አጋሮች ጋር በመተባበር  በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ለጥቃቅን አነስተኛና መካከለኛ ኢንተርፕራዞች የበለጠ አካታች ሥነ-ምህዳር ለመገንባት የምናግዝ ይሆናል። በጋራ በመሆን በተለይም በሴቶች የሚመሩ ኢንተርፕራይዞችን አርቴፊሻል ኢንተለጀንስ እና ሌሎች የቴክኖሎጂ አማራጮችን በማቅረብ ተግባራዊ የምናደርግ ይሆናል።

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Dashen Bank partners with Accion and Mastercard to connect small businesses to the digital economy with new innovation hub

Feb 18, 2025

Moving small businesses from cash transactions to building financial records that can unlock working capital

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 18, 2025: Dashen Bank, one of Ethiopia’s leading private banks,has partnered with global nonprofit Accion and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to better serve small businesses with digital financial services customized to meet their financing needs.Accionis supporting Dashen Bank to build an innovation hub that aims to expand digital banking services to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through a range of new products and a focus on women-owned businesses.

Ethiopia’s nearly two million¹ MSMEs are important drivers of its economy, yet only 6%² of microenterprises and 1.9% of small enterprises have access to formal credit. The financing gap in the MSME sector of the country is estimated to be $4.2 billion³. Unemployment, low incomes, and a lack of financial education remain key reasons for a lack of access to formal financial services. Moreover, only 39%⁴ of women — compared to 55%⁵ of men — have an account at a formal financial institution, preventing them from accessing the evolving digital financial ecosystem and contributing to the country’s economic growth.

Dashen Bank has long been at the forefront of introducing innovative digital financial products and services in Ethiopia. It was one of the first banks in the country to launch a digital wallet, which helps small business owners make frictionless transactions. Now, with the new innovation hub being built with Accion, the bank aims to develop new solutions, embedded in existing supply chains for MSMEs in Ethiopia that still largely transact in cash, have few assets, and as a result, remain largely invisible to big banks.The innovation hub is one of the strategic pillars of the Bank’s sixth strategy plan designed to enhance its capacity supporting MSMEs. This move is aimed at driving financial inclusion and fostering economic development through innovative digital solutions.

Asfaw Alemu, Chief Executive Officer at Dashen Bank shared,“Despite their critical contribution to the country’s economic growth, small businesses, particularly those led by women, face significant financing challenges. This is largely due to high reliance on cash-based transactions leading to insufficient formal financial records of their business operations and women’s lack of ownership over assets to meet collateral requirements. Through this partnership, we seek to address these challenges, build our operational capacity, enhance our credit offerings to meet the needs of small business owners, and develop a range of digital products and value propositions to help them access the resources they need to grow their businesses successfully.This landmark project underscores our commitment to staying always one step ahead, further cementing our reputation as an industry leader in Ethiopia’s financial sector.”

According to Yohannes Million,Chief Digital and Information Officer at Dashen Bank,”Our innovation hub aims to serve as a catalyst for empowering MSMEs by providing them with tailored digital banking solutions. Based in a dedicated facility, it will drive change as a platform where technology and financial services intersect to fuel progress and improve operational efficiency for our customers.”

Through strategic partnerships with those supply chains, Accion will help Dashen develop new products designed for MSMEs, using AI to crunch new types of data and develop new credit scoring models that are better suited to the realities of MSMEs, including those that are women-owned. Backed by this new data and extensive research, the innovation hub will build solutions such as credit from their existing suppliers via embedded finance products, and non-financial tools, such as business management support.

Dashen Bank has recently issued a tender to initiate the construction of this forward-lookingfacility.The innovation hub represents another bold step by the bank toward transforming Ethiopia’s banking landscape, demonstrating its unwavering commitment to harnessing the power of technology to drive progress and support economic empowerment.As part of its future roadmap Dashen Bank will organize an innovation workshop for its leadership and staff, which will explore opportunities in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, in collaboration with a globally recognized technology partner.

RaliatSunmonu, Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Accion Advisory said, “Ethiopia is one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, and small businesses play a vital role in propelling its growth. Through this collaboration with Dashen Bank – a leader in financial innovation – and other strategic partners we are helping build a more inclusive ecosystem for MSMEs in Ethiopia. Together, we can deploy artificial intelligence and other tech tools to help remove bias and other roadblocks faced by micro, small, and medium enterprises, especially those led by women.”

Subhashini Chandran, Senior Vice President of Social Impact for Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth said: “Ethiopia is at a pivotal point in its journey to drive economic growth through inclusive and relevant services for micro and small businesses. Digital financial services are a critical component of that journey. For the last decade, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth has been working to advance financial inclusion around the world. We are excited to partner with Accion and Dashen Bank to develop inclusive financial services that can support the growth and resilience of small business owners in Ethiopia.”

This initiative is part of Accion’s 8-year partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth that supports the transformation of financial service providers, digital platforms, and fintechs, and aims to help 23 million people across 25 countries benefit from the digital economy.

About Accion

Accion is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy for the nearly two billion people who are failed by the global financial system. We develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives. Through targeted investment strategies, advisory solutions, and expert thought leadership, we work with local partners to develop and scale cheaper, more accessible, and customer-friendly financial solutions. Since 1961, Accion has helped build 267 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 75 countries, reaching 440 million people. More at https://www.accion.org.

About Dashen Bank

Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Dashen Bank is one of the biggest private banks in Ethiopia, with a reputation for financial services innovation. It operates through a network of more than 880 branches, nine dedicated forex bureaus, more than 1,096 ATMs and more than 1,952 plus Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals spread across the length and breadth of the nation. Dashen Bank’s omni channel banking service offers digital payment capability and access to aggregated digital products and services. More at https://dashenbanksc.com/.

About Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company’s core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise, and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs, and empower a community of thinkers, leaders, and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth. For more information and to receive its latest insights, follow the Center on LinkedIn, Instagram and subscribe to its newsletter.

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