Vodafone has announced its M-Pesa mobile money platform has reached more than 50 million monthly users across the African continent.
The company first launched the platform in Kenya in 2007.
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Today, the platform is available in Mozambique, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“M-Pesa has helped millions of people to access financial services for the first time and millions more to improve their lives, start businesses and gain control of their finances,” Vodafone Group CEO, Nick Read, said in a statement.
What to know about M-Pesa
Vodafone’s M-Pesa provides access to financial services for users who do not have bank accounts or have limited access to such services.
Accessed using a mobile device, M-Pesa lets users send and receive money, purchase airtime, receive salaries, and apply and receive short-term loans.
The platform is also open to businesses to provide their services to customers. They can use M-Pesa to make and receive payments, as well as separate personal and business funds.
According to Vodafone, the number of active M-Pesa users has doubled during the last five years.
The number of transactions on the platform has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the first quarter of the current financial year, the number of transactions increased to 4.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 44%.
The transactions had a total value of 63 billion Euros (R1.1 trillion).
In June 2021, Vodafone launched the M-Pesa Super App which lets customers complete tasks with a single app.
“We are still in the early stages of M-Pesa’s development and will continue to invest to capture this significant opportunity – building value for shareholders,” Read added.
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Featured image: Emmanuel Ikwuegbu/Unsplash
