The launch of Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money service in Ethiopia is a boon for the Kenyan telecoms operator, which is trying to jumpstart its expansion in one of the continent’s economies with the help of Ethiopia.
After a few months of pilot testing, the operator was granted a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia, and now the service is live.
Users of the service can send and receive money locally as well as globally, and the service itself is available in five different languages.
In 2022, the Kenyan operator expanded into Ethiopia, adding more than two million new active users to its voice and broadband network.
M-Pesa was launched by Safaricom to Kenya in 2007. The service, which is also provided in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania, has developed into the business’s major revenue generator.
“M-Pesa is known to be a game-changer for financial inclusion,” stated Stanley Njoroge, interim CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia. “We will continue to broaden the services our customers receive from the M-Pesa platform.”
In East Africa, mobile money services are widely used to transmit and receive money as well as to pay for products and services.
Ethio Telecom, which boasted having more than 34 million members to its mobile money service Telebirr in July, is another fierce competitor for the corporation.
With one of Africa’s youngest populations and a population of 120 million, Safaricom is placing its future hopes on Ethiopia.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
Safaricom launches its mobile network in Ethiopia
Ethiopia plans to sell 45% of its state-owned telecom company Ethio-Telecom
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