EthSwitch and Huawei Discuss AI Payments and China Links

In Short

• EthSwitch is discussing deeper cooperation with Huawei on AI, payment infrastructure, and cross-border payments.
• The talks include possible connectivity with China’s payments and clearing ecosystem.
• EthSwitch says it processed 387 million interoperable transactions in Ethiopia in FY2025/26.

What Happened

EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payment switch, is exploring expanded cooperation with Huawei on artificial intelligence, payment infrastructure, and cross-border payment connectivity with China.

The discussion happened in Addis Ababa during a visit by Fernando Liu, president of Huawei Digital Finance’s Central Bank and Non-Traditional Finance unit. He met EthSwitch CEO Yilebes Addis. EthSwitch said the meeting covered mobile banking upgrades, resilient payment infrastructure, AI applications to improve efficiency and security, and technical skills development.

A national payment switch is shared plumbing that lets banks and payment providers route transactions between each other. Interoperable payments means customers can send money across different banks and wallets, instead of staying inside one closed network.

EthSwitch shared recent performance figures that show its growing role. It reported processing 387 million interoperable transactions worth ETB 1.26 trillion in the 2025/26 fiscal year. It also reported ETB 2.6 billion in pre-tax profit.

Why It Matters

Ethiopia’s digital payments market is scaling fast, and EthSwitch sits at the center of it. The switch supports ATM, point-of-sale, QR code payments, instant payments, and gateway services, all of which need high uptime and strong fraud controls.

Huawei’s pitch is broad, cloud computing, AI, cybersecurity, and digital banking tools for financial institutions. For EthSwitch, the practical question is whether AI can reduce fraud and operational risk while keeping costs manageable.

Cross-border payment discussions with China stand out. If EthSwitch eventually connects more closely to China’s payment and clearing rails, it could make settlement, the behind-the-scenes process of moving funds between institutions, faster and cheaper for trade and travel flows. That matters because China is Ethiopia’s largest bilateral trading partner.

For African payment infrastructure operators, the signal is clear. National switches are increasingly looking beyond local vendors to global partners as transaction volumes rise and reliability expectations tighten.