The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has warned again that sending money through unlicensed services breaks Ethiopian law. Birr Metrics reported on April 3, 2026 that the central bank told individuals and businesses, including Ethiopians living abroad, to use licensed institutions only. The bank said both the people who provide informal services and the people who use them face legal risk.
Many families in the diaspora still send dollars in two ways. They use formal channels. They also use informal hawala style networks that follow the parallel market value of foreign currency.
As of March 31, 2026, the NBE had published an updated list of approved remittance providers, Birr Metrics said. The list included Western Union, MoneyGram and PayPal. It also included the domestic platforms telebirr and Yaya Wallet.
On its Money Remittance Transfer Agencies page, the NBE later told the public that providing or using an unlicensed remittance service is illegal and punishable under Ethiopian law. The page directs readers to the official list of licensed institutions.
Formal transfers have grown. Birr Metrics said net private remittances rose 36.5 percent to 4.6 billion US dollars in the first half of the 2025/26 fiscal year.
Birr Metrics linked the rise to foreign exchange measures that started in July 2024. The changes moved the birr closer to a market rate and narrowed the gap with the parallel market. That improved the return on some formal transfers. A significant share of remittances still moves through informal networks outside full regulatory oversight, Birr Metrics said.
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