How to pay for Vercel, AWS and hosting from Ethiopia

Because these platforms charge a card in US dollars, and a card can only pay a foreign merchant if there are foreign-currency funds behind it. Ethiopian rules on who can hold foreign currency decide who can get such a card.

That changed in February 2026. A National Bank of Ethiopia notice allows banks to issue “internationally recognized cards for all foreign exchange account holders that will be used by the customers to make outbound retail payments including e-commerce as long as the account holders have sufficient FX in their accounts.”

So the question is whether you can hold foreign currency. The NBE's FX FAQ lets residents open a foreign-currency account if they earn salary, rental or other income in foreign currency, or receive remittances from abroad and keep them in foreign currency. The minimum deposit is USD 100.

The one with published terms is Dashen Bank's Mastercard multi-currency international prepaid card:

• It holds US dollars, and every transaction is in USD.
• Dashen's FAQ says you can use it for online purchases while in Ethiopia. Each online payment needs a one-time password.
• To get one you need a Dashen account plus a passport, visa and flight ticket, or a foreign-currency account if you aren't travelling.
• The plastic card costs ETB 500 to issue, with no annual fee, and expires after two years.

Dashen also launched a separate Dashen Virtual Card for international payments in April 2026, through its Super App. Awash Bank announced Mastercard prepaid cards for online payments too. Neither has published limits or fees we could check, so ask the bank before you apply.

One catch: a prepaid card is not always accepted. Vercel's billing docs say it takes “credit/debit card only” and list prepaid cards and some virtual cards as invalid. Test a small charge before you depend on it for a production bill.

Not yet. The card gives you a 16-digit Visa number for receiving money from abroad. ethio telecom's FAQ answers the question directly: “Can I use my Virtual VISA for payments? No, at present, only remittances are possible.” It adds that cross-border payments will come through a telebirr USD wallet once the NBE rules are reviewed. Until then it can't pay a hosting bill.

Many developers in Ethiopia use a card held by a relative or colleague abroad. It works, but the account and the bill then depend on someone else's card.

On EthioDeploy you pay by bank transfer in Birr, and no card is involved. Pro is 1,399 ETB a month and Business is 4,999 ETB.

1. Pick the plan and choose Birr on the pricing page or in Settings → Billing.
2. Transfer the amount from CBE or telebirr.
3. Enter the bank and your reference number. We check it against the bank, usually within seconds.

Each payment covers 30 days. A Birr plan doesn't renew on its own: pay again before the date in Settings → Billing, and you get a 2-day grace period after it. Domains can be bought in Birr too. See Billing and Hosting in Ethiopia.