About Sheba Credit

Building Ethiopia's
financial future.

Sheba Credit was founded on a simple but powerful belief: every Ethiopian deserves a financial identity. We are building the infrastructure to make that possible — for individuals, institutions, and the nation.

Our Story

Why
Sheba?

H
Hamid Ali
Founder & CEO
Hamid founded Sheba Credit to solve a problem he witnessed first-hand — millions of Ethiopians locked out of financial opportunity not because of risk, but because of invisibility. With a background spanning finance, technology, and development, he is building the credit infrastructure Ethiopia deserves.

Ethiopia is one of Africa's most remarkable economic stories — a nation of 135 million people, averaging 6–7% GDP growth for over a decade, with a rapidly digitising population hungry for financial access. And yet, fewer than 2% of Ethiopian adults are covered by any credit bureau.

That means tens of millions of creditworthy people — farmers, women entrepreneurs, young professionals, small business owners — are invisible to the formal financial system. Not because they are risky borrowers. Because the data to prove they aren't doesn't exist.

The gap isn't about creditworthiness. It's about data infrastructure.

Sheba Credit was founded to build that infrastructure. By combining artificial intelligence, open banking, and alternative data — from Telebirr mobile money payments to cooperative membership records to utility bills — we create verifiable financial identities for people who have never had one.

We named ourselves after the Queen of Sheba, whose kingdom was centred in what is now Ethiopia — a symbol of intelligence, wealth, and leadership. That is the future we are building toward: an Ethiopia where every citizen has the financial identity they deserve, and where banks and lenders have the data confidence to serve them.

Sheba Credit is not just a credit bureau. It is Ethiopia's credit engine.

What We Stand For

Our core values.

01

Inclusion

Every Ethiopian — whether a farmer in Oromia, a woman entrepreneur in Addis, or a young professional in Hawassa — deserves a financial identity. Inclusion is not a feature of Sheba Credit; it is the reason we exist.

02

Innovation

Ethiopia doesn't need to copy outdated credit bureau models. Sheba leapfrogs directly into AI-powered, real-time, alternative-data scoring. We are building the infrastructure that mature markets wish they had started with.

03

Integrity

Trust is the foundation of any credit system. We commit to full transparency in how we collect and use data, strict consent-driven processes, and GDPR-inspired data protection — exceeding Ethiopia's regulatory requirements from day one.

04

Partnership

We are not building this alone. Collaboration with the National Bank of Ethiopia, commercial banks, MFIs, cooperatives, telcos, and international development partners is central to how Sheba Credit will become the national credit standard.

5-Year Vision
Y1

Foundation & License

Secure NBE license, launch core products, onboard 15 institutions, reach 50K users.

Y2

Scale & Agri Launch

50 institutional partners, Sheba Agri for farmers, 100K app users, cash-flow positive.

Y3

Profitability

250K users, break-even achieved, 100 institutional partners, real-time AI scoring APIs live.

Y4

Regional Expansion

Enter Djibouti and Somalia — markets with no formal credit bureaus.

Y5

National Infrastructure

1M users, 300+ East African partners, $4M revenue, Ethiopia's credit standard.

Long-Term Vision

Ethiopia's national credit infrastructure.

Within five years, Sheba Credit will be the foundational credit infrastructure layer for Ethiopia — and a growing force across East Africa. We are not building a niche product. We are building a financial rail that the entire economy runs on.

Beyond Ethiopia, we will expand into Djibouti, Somalia, and South Sudan — markets where no formal credit infrastructure exists — carrying our model of AI-powered, inclusive credit scoring to the region.

3M+
Ethiopians with credit histories by Yr 5
30+
Institutional partners
4
Countries by 2030

Aligned with Ethiopia's Vision 2030

Sheba Credit directly supports Ethiopia's national development goals — expanding financial inclusion, enabling SME growth, modernising agriculture, and empowering youth and women with access to credit.

Financial Inclusion Digital Transformation SME Growth Agricultural Modernisation Youth Empowerment Women's Finance UN SDG 8
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