Ethiopia’s push to rein in its fast-expanding digital finance ecosystem took a decisive turn late last year, as the Ministry of Justice ordered all commercial banks to freeze the accounts of ten payment gateway providers and submit exhaustive financial disclosures to federal authorities.
The directive, dated December 29, was signed by Tesfaye Daba Wakjira, State Minister for the Attorney General Division. It instructs banks to immediately block all accounts linked to the named firms and to hand over comprehensive records detailing their financial activities from inception to date.
Who Is Affected?
The order targets some of Ethiopia’s most recognizable digital payment platforms:
- ArifPay
- AddisPay
- FenanPay
- LakiPay
- StarPay
- YagoutPay
- SantimPay
- Kacha
- Chapa Pay
- Sinan Pay

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