Manufacturing the Future: SantimPay’s POS Assembly Plant in Ethiopia

SantimPay’s unveiling of Ethiopia’s first locally assembled POS manufacturing plant, hosted at the Ethiopian Science Museum in Addis Ababa, marks a turning point in the nation’s fintech evolution. For decades, Ethiopia’s digital payment infrastructure has depended heavily on imported technology, limiting access and increasing costs for merchants across the country. By investing in a local assembly plant with a daily production capacity of over 3,000 units, SantimPay is redefining how payment technology is sourced, deployed, and maintained in Ethiopia.

This milestone is more than a feat of engineering; it is an economic catalyst. Local assembly reduces Ethiopia’s reliance on expensive imports, shortens lead times for merchants waiting for hardware, and creates direct employment opportunities for technicians, engineers, and support staff. Beyond job creation, it fosters knowledge transfer, enabling Ethiopia’s young workforce to gain expertise in fintech hardware assembly and maintenance. By manufacturing devices like these domestically, SantimPay ensures businesses of all sizes, from high-end retail chains in Addis to small kiosks all over the country can adopt affordable, reliable payment solutions.

Equally significant is the timing. Ethiopia’s national Digital Transformation Strategy has identified financial inclusion as a key pillar to achieving a cash-lite economy. SantimPay’s new facility directly aligns with this vision, accelerating the deployment of smart POS devices to urban and rural areas, closing the gap between modern financial services and underserved communities. By making POS hardware locally accessible, the company is also indirectly driving down the cost of digital transactions for consumers, paving the way for broader adoption of cashless payments.

The plant also strengthens Ethiopia’s position in the regional fintech landscape. SantimPay’s long-term roadmap includes not only meeting domestic demand but also exporting locally assembled POS devices to neighboring countries like Djibouti, Sudan, and Eritrea, making Ethiopia a regional hub for fintech hardware innovation. This move is a tangible step toward transforming the country from a consumer of technology to a producer and exporter of it.

Ultimately, the launch of the POS assembly plant is a statement of intent: Ethiopia is ready to build its digital future from within. SantimPay is not just responding to the needs of today’s merchants and consumers but actively shaping the payment ecosystem of tomorrow.