Safaricom marks her 15th year anniversary of the launch of M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer service launched in March 2007 by the Kenyan telecom firm with British multinational telco Vodafone.
The platform is ranked the world’s most innovative digital financial services provider, having generated more than $765 million (Sh87.7 billion) in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.
M-Pesa has expanded to more than 51 million customers, 465,000 businesses, 600,000 agents, and 42,000 developers across seven African countries since its inception in Kenya.
The service handles more than 61 million transactions per day, making it Africa’s largest provider of fintech.
Speaking while marking the celebrations, the firm’s Chief executive Peter Ndegwa said the company has lined up plans to launch a variety of digital solutions to increase financial inclusion targeting the unbanked customers.
“We launched M-Pesa back in 2007 in a bid to deepen financial inclusion for our customers by connecting them to useful and affordable financial services,” said Ndegwa.
Ndegwa stated that the company has seen a population “access to formal financial services grow to as high as 83 percent as we introduced additional services and reached more customers” over the last 15 years.
M-Pesa Africa launched a Super App and a Business Super App, last year, allowing any business on the service to run a virtual storefront and provide their services virtually via M-Pesa Mini Apps.
Following a $850 million bid, a consortium led by Safaricom and including Vodacom and Vodafone was awarded a telecommunications license in Ethiopia in May, last year.
The consortium, which is set to launch a telecom operation in Ethiopia under the name Safaricom Ethiopia, next month, is preparing to launch an M-Pesa service but needs to obtain additional licenses.
Ethiopia’s current financial law prohibits foreigners from entering the financial services industry.
Authorities are reportedly finalising legal changes that will grant Safaricom an additional license for mobile financial services, allowing it to compete with Ethio telecom’s Telebirr.
M-Pesa is also praised for its social value, as it provides opportunities for SMEs and plays an important role in assisting the underbanked.
The platform has directly transformed households as it has progressed from a basic SIM card-based money transfer application to a full-fledged financial service, offering loans and savings in collaboration with local banks, as well as merchant payments services.
