Yared Endale has been appointed by Visa, a business that specialises in electronic payments, as the new Country Lead for Ethiopia, subject to regulatory approval. Yared will serve as the senior business development leader and country manager for Ethiopia when he joins the Visa leadership team for East Africa.
He will be responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s growth strategy in the countryincluding building long-term relationships with clients, regulators, and other key stakeholders to drive the adoption of cashless payments.
Speaking on the new appointment, Ag. East Africa GM at Visa Eva Ngigi-Sarwari said, “Yared’sappointmentis in line with Visa’s vision to continue building a solid regional team by matching unique strengths and talents with critical business opportunities. His prior experience in digital financial services will bring an immediate impact on our plans to grow digital payments in Ethiopia. We look forward to working with Yared as he leads our Ethiopian operations and deepens our impact in the country”.
Prior to this new role, Yaredworked for the Cooperative Bank of Oromia, where he was the Senior Director Digital Financial Services and Digital Transformation. In this role, he oversaw the bank’s digital transformation plans in line with the Digital Ethiopia 2025 initiative. Prior to that, he worked with the Bank of Abyssinia, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Wegagen Bank SC, amongst others.
Yared Endale said “I am excited to be joiningVisa at a time when the company is working across the financial ecosystem to bring the benefits of digital commerce and money movement to consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government partners”.
Yared holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from the HiLCoE School of Computer Science &Technology, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Physics – minoring in Computer Science, from Hawassa University.
Earlier this month, Visa unveiled plans to hold a second edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) fintech competition and launch its She’s Next women’s empowerment initiative in Ethiopia.
Visa is one of the leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories.