NBE Moves to Centralize Financial Cybersecurity as Fraud Losses Reach Br 1.3 Billion
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is moving to strengthen cybersecurity across the financial sector as the rapid expansion of digital payments creates a larger and increasingly interconnected target for fraud and cyber threats.
Under its draft National Digital Payments Strategy 2026–2030, the central bank proposes establishing a dedicated Cybersecurity and Fraud Directorate within the NBE, alongside a national cybersecurity framework and shared systems for detecting and responding to financial-sector threats.
The move comes after fraud losses across the financial sector reached Br 1.3 billion in 2024, while attempted cyberattacks against public and private institutions increased sharply during the first half of the year.
Cyberattack Attempts More Than Doubled
NBE data cited in the strategy shows that 4,623 attempted cyberattacks were recorded during the first half of 2024, representing a 115% increase from the estimated level in the first half of 2023.
| Period | Attempted Cyberattacks | Change |
| H1 2023 | ~2,150 | — |
| H1 2024 | 4,623 | +115% |
Source: National Bank of Ethiopia, Draft National Digital Payments Strategy 2026–2030. The H1 2023 figure is derived from the NBE’s reported 115% year-on-year increase.
The increase in cyber threats is occurring alongside a much larger expansion in the amount of money moving through digital channels. NBE data shows that the volume of transactions processed through digital financial services nearly doubled between June 2023 and June 2024, while their combined value more than doubled.
Digital Transactions Nearly Double in One Year
| Indicator | June 2023 | June 2024 |
| Digital transactions | 1.24 billion | 2.47 billion |
| Transaction value | Br 4.78 trillion | Br 9.69 trillion |
Source: National Bank of Ethiopia, Financial Stability Report, November 2024.
The growth has been particularly pronounced in mobile money. Mobile money transactions increased from 298.83 million to 764.88 million between June 2023 and June 2024, while their value rose from Br 380.30 billion to Br 1.03 trillion.
| Digital Channel | June 2023 Transactions | June 2024 Transactions | June 2023 Value | June 2024 Value |
| ATM | 356.38m | 437.98m | Br 478.32bn | Br 728.51bn |
| PoS | 6.60m | 10.15m | Br 40.84bn | Br 24.24bn |
| Mobile Banking | 474.92m | 1.11bn | Br 3.44tn | Br 6.72tn |
| Internet Banking | 5.80m | 15.12m | Br 358.14bn | Br 749.05bn |
| Agent Banking | 101.95m | 130.35m | Br 76.54bn | Br 446.00bn |
| Mobile Money | 298.83m | 764.88m | Br 380.30bn | Br 1.03tn |
| Aggregate DFS | 1.24bn | 2.47bn | Br 4.78tn | Br 9.69tn |
Source: National Bank of Ethiopia, Financial Stability Report, November 2024.
The scale of this expansion is changing the nature of the cybersecurity challenge facing Ethiopia’s financial system. As more transactions move between banks, mobile-money providers, payment systems, and other digital platforms, vulnerabilities in one part of the ecosystem can potentially affect other institutions and their customers.
The NBE’s proposed response is therefore not limited to individual financial institutions.
The draft strategy calls for a national financial-sector cybersecurity framework that would apply to licensed financial service providers. It also proposes shared cybersecurity and fraud desks at licensed switch operators and a national threat-intelligence sharing system.
The proposed Cybersecurity and Fraud Directorate would coordinate these efforts and work with institutions including the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) and the Financial Intelligence Service.
The strategy also proposes a shared AI-based fraud detection system at the NBE. The system would use transaction information across the financial ecosystem to identify suspicious patterns and help institutions detect fraud that may be difficult to identify when monitoring is conducted separately.
Consumer protection is another component of the proposed framework. The NBE plans to address Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, establish clearer liability and compensation mechanisms for victims, and strengthen requirements for financial institutions to report fraud consistently.
The strategy sets a target of reducing reported fraud from a 2024 baseline of 0.0153% of transaction value to 0.0008% by 2030. The NBE cautions that the existing baseline may itself underestimate the scale of the problem because fraud remains underreported.
Digital literacy is also identified as a vulnerability. The strategy reports that 66% of women and 60% of men do not use mobile money because they do not know how to use it, highlighting a gap between the rapid expansion of digital financial services and users’ ability to navigate them safely.
Ethiopia’s digital payments market has therefore entered a new phase. The challenge is no longer only increasing the number of people and transactions using digital financial services, but protecting an ecosystem that is processing trillions of birr through increasingly interconnected channels.
The NBE’s draft strategy seeks to address that challenge by moving cybersecurity and fraud management toward a centralized, coordinated, and data-driven model.
The National Digital Payments Strategy 2026–2030 remains a draft framework, with the proposed Cybersecurity and Fraud Directorate targeted for establishment within six months of implementation.
Sources: National Bank of Ethiopia, Draft National Digital Payments Strategy 2026–2030; NBE Financial Stability Report, November 2024.