Change money

Ethiopia uses the birr (ETB, Br). Change money only at banks, hotel exchange desks and licensed forex bureaus, starting at the airport bank counters. Since the birr was allowed to float in 2024, official bank rates are close to market rates, so there is little reason to use street exchangers, which are illegal.

Black-market exchange is strictly forbidden. Changing money on the street or through “parallel market” dealers, or sending money through unlicensed agents, is illegal in Ethiopia and punishable by law. Only change and send money through banks, licensed exchange bureaus and licensed money-transfer services.

Yoga Forex Bureau

Bole Atlas

Global Forex Bureau

Bole Medhane Alem

Rooha Forex Bureau

Kazanchis

Rooha Forex Bureau

Sarbet

How to move your money

Use your foreign bank account or card to pay like a local, without carrying much cash.

1. 1

   Open a wallet

   Get a local SIM, then register telebirr at an Ethio Telecom shop with your passport (or M-PESA, if a Safaricom shop will register you). Your phone number is your wallet number.

2. 2

   Sign up for a transfer app abroad

   Create an account on telebirr Remit, Remitly or Taptap Send with your foreign bank card. CashGo and FastPayEt send to Ethiopian bank accounts.

3. 3

   Send money to your number

   Enter your Ethiopian phone number and the amount. It arrives in your wallet in birr at the market rate, usually within minutes. You (or friends and family) can also top up your airtime from abroad.

4. 4

   Need cash? Use an ATM without a card

   With M-PESA, choose Withdrawal, then Withdraw at ATM, and enter the amount to get a one-time code. At a Bank of Abyssinia or Awash Bank ATM, choose the cardless option and type the code. telebirr cash-out works at agents and Ethio Telecom shops.

5. 5

   Pay anyone

   Scan a QR code, or choose transfer to a bank account or another wallet and enter the account or phone number of the person you're paying.

Send with telebirr Remit, step by step

Ethio Telecom's own app sends money from a Visa card abroad straight to an Ethiopian telebirr number, in birr at the day's rate.

1. 1Have a telebirr number in EthiopiaThe money goes to an Ethiopian phone number with telebirr: your own (register telebirr with your passport at an Ethio Telecom shop) or a friend's.
2. 2Install telebirr Remit where you liveDownload it from the App Store or Google Play on a phone abroad. Ethio Telecom lists the USA, Canada, the UK, Italy, Sweden, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and South Africa.
3. 3Sign up and add your Visa cardRegister with your details, confirm the code it sends you, then add a Visa card.
4. 4Enter the telebirr number and the amountType the Ethiopian phone number and how much to send. The app shows what will arrive in birr before you confirm.
5. 5It arrives in secondsThe birr lands in the telebirr wallet straight away. If the number isn't registered for telebirr yet, the receiver gets a voucher PIN by SMS to cash out at a telebirr agent or Ethio Telecom shop.

Official video by Ethio Telecom (58 seconds; the steps are shown on screen in English).

Ethio Telecom has advertised sending as free; check the fee and rate in the app before you confirm.

• 

  CashGoBank of Abyssinia

  Pay with a Visa, Mastercard or Amex card; the receiver gets birr in their Ethiopian bank account.

• 

  FastPayEtFastPay

  Card-funded transfers straight to Ethiopian bank accounts such as Bank of Abyssinia and Coopbank.

• 

  telebirr RemitEthio Telecom

  Ethio Telecom's own app for sending money from abroad into a telebirr wallet.

• 

  RemitlyRemitly

  To Ethiopian bank accounts or straight into a telebirr wallet.

• 

  Taptap SendTaptap Send

  To CBE and Dashen bank accounts, or straight into telebirr or M-PESA wallets.

• 

  Western UnionWestern Union

  Send to an Ethiopian bank account, or for cash pickup at a bank branch.

• 

  WorldRemitWorldRemit

  To bank accounts such as CBE, or cash pickup.

• 

  RiaRia Money Transfer

  Bank deposit or cash pickup across Ethiopia.

• 

  CBE ConnectCommercial Bank of Ethiopia

  If you already have a CBE account: top up a USD balance with your card, convert to birr and send to bank accounts.

Only use licensed services like these. Sending money through unlicensed agents ("hawala" or the parallel market) is illegal in Ethiopia.

Good to know

• Airport: bank counters and ATMs in the baggage hall. Rates are the same official bank rates as in town.
• Banks in the city: Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), Dashen, Awash, Abyssinia and others. Bring your passport.
• Hotels: larger hotels exchange for guests, sometimes at a slightly lower rate.
• Keep every receipt. You may need it to change birr back or to show where your money came from.