M-Pesa users outside Kenya hit 13.4 million

 PATRICK ALUSHULA

M-Pesa subscribers outside Kenya expanded by 227,000 in three months to hit 13.4 million at the end of December, Vodacom Group Limited has said, indicating the growing popularity of the mobile money service in other African markets.

Vodacom Group’s trading update for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, shows that the group made R851 million (Sh6.28 billion) as M-Pesa revenue from Tanzania, DR Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho markets. This was a 30.3 per cent jump in revenue from the previous quarter.

The mobile money service now contributes 16.4 per cent of Vodacom’s service revenue, an improvement attributed to growing ecosystems across the four markets.

“We generated M-Pesa revenue of R851 million, with growth accelerating to 30.3 per cent, contributing 16.4 per cent of service revenue, as we grow the ecosystem in all markets,” said Vodacom, which holds a 35 per cent stake in Safaricom.

“On average for the quarter, 237 million transactions were processed monthly through the M-Pesa system, growing at 24.2 per cent year-on-year.”

The growth of M-Pesa also helped push up Vodacom’s service revenues of operations outside South Africa and Kenya by 13.2 per cent.

In Mozambique, Vodacom said it expanded interoperability of the service to a third bank, helping to widen the M-Pesa ecosystem for its customers.

SOURCE: DAILY NATION