Registration

Opening Remarks

Building Digital Trust in a Cash-First Culture

• What specific security and reliability investments are non-negotiable to prevent future platform failures and restore confidence?
• What causes customers to prefer branch visits over digital channels despite high digital transaction volumes?
• How can banks design locally intuitive UX that increases adoption among Amharic and Afan Oromo speakers?
• What in-app transparency features - fee breakdowns, transaction tracking - most effectively reduce anxiety for first-time digital users?
• How can community institutions help banks build credibility for digital services among skeptical customer segments?
• What value propositions overcome infrastructure challenges that currently limit digital banking adoption in underserved areas?

Coffee & Networking

The eKYC Mandate: Integrating Fayda ID into Banking Journeys

• What integration strategies can banks deploy to streamline Fayda biometric verification across mobile and agent channels?
• How should the sector respond if Fayda registration targets aren't met before NBE's mandated deadlines?
• What KYC adaptations enable rural customer onboarding when documentation, literacy, and connectivity present persistent barriers?
• What contingency plans should NBE and banks develop for tiered KYC to avoid mass exclusion if registration targets are missed?
• How can banks manage Fayda implementation costs without passing burdens to low-income customers through higher fees?
• What authentication and fraud prevention improvements does Fayda enable beyond replacing current identification verification methods?

Building Ethiopia's Payments Infrastructure: The Interoperability Imperative

• What frameworks can enable telebirr-EthSwitch integration and achieve universal payment platform interoperability?
• How can NBE's EthSwitch mandate be implemented while ensuring seamless customer experiences?
• What roadmap makes universal QR code acceptance viable from Addis Ababa to Woreda-level traders?
• How should payments infrastructure expand beyond Addis Ababa to achieve geographic equity nationwide?
• What switch-level liquidity innovations can address bank-mobile money settlement cash flow challenges?
• How can payment ecosystem players collaborate on infrastructure while maintaining competitive differentiation?

Networking Break & Lunch

Reaching the Next 50 Million: A Woreda-Level Financial Inclusion Playbook

• How can product design specifically address mobility, privacy, and asset-control needs of women in rural and informal economies?
• What USSD and feature phone strategies ensure financial inclusion given Ethiopia's current smartphone penetration and affordability?
• What innovative agent banking models—addressing liquidity management, float distribution - can achieve sustainability in low-density rural markets?
• What alternative data sources enable credit scoring for customers without traditional banking histories or formal employment?
• How should banks design services for areas with intermittent electricity, limited connectivity, and constrained digital infrastructure?
• How can non-exclusive agent arrangements and super-agent networks improve service delivery while solving agent profitability challenges?

Wiring the Diaspora: Formalising the $7B+ Remittance Channel

• Which product combination - virtual diaspora accounts linked to mobile wallets - creates a compelling value proposition to divert flows from Hawala?
• How do market-based FX reforms affect pricing strategies for formal remittance channels competing with Hawala systems?
• What technical integration enables seamless diaspora-to-recipient transfers without requiring recipients to visit physical branches?
• How should banks balance remittance channel cybersecurity with customer experience given Ethiopia's elevated fraud threat environment?
• What messaging convinces diaspora senders that formal channels offer advantages beyond compliance and contribute to development?
• How can banks streamline compliance to navigate overlapping NBE, FATF, and data protection rules without making onboarding prohibitive?

Coffee & Networking

Defending Ethiopia's Digital Banking Infrastructure: Coordinated Cybersecurity Strategies

• What technical controls and security architecture standards should become mandatory across Ethiopian banks?
• How can banks establish real-time threat intelligence sharing to coordinate defense against attacks?
• What incident response protocols enable rapid containment when breaches occur across multiple institutions?
• How should banks detect and prevent insider threats given rising fraud from employees?
• What practical compliance frameworks satisfy INSA approval requirements without creating operational bottlenecks?
• How can banks implement cost-effective security measures appropriate for Ethiopia's threat environment?

Closing Remarks and End of Summit