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Global Business: Mobile Money in Kenya

Mobile money in Kenya

20/07/2013

Mobile Money in Kenya

BBC World Service - Global Business, Mobile Money in Kenya

How mobile payment system M-Pesa kick-started an emerging tech econmomy in Kenya

Almost a third of Kenya’s economy now goes through the mobile money system, M-Pesa. Even the company that launched it six years ago, Safaricom, didn’t anticipate the gusto with which Kenyans would adopt virtual currency. 

In a country with fewer than 10,000 credit cards and where 80% of the population does not have a bank account, M-Pesa is a secure and easy way to pay and transfer money to anyone, anywhere across the country. 

Now the system has morphed from a method of payment into a platform for all sorts of businesses. In Nairobi there are startups aiming to boost fundraising for funerals and weddings, help landlords collect rent, loan mobile phone credit, and much more, all based on M-Pesa’s technology. 

Peter Day traces the story of how a mobile payment experiment kick-started an emerging tech economy.


Contributors:
Bob Collymore - chief executive, Safaricom
David Mark - co-founder, M-Changa 
Kamau Wanyoike - director, MoVAS
Nancy Wang - co-founder, M-Kazi
Duncan Muchangi - co-founder, Manyatta Rent
Nikolai Barnwell - director, 88mph Nairobi
Joe Mucheru - Sub-Saharan ambassador, Google
Tony Mwai - general manager, IBM East Africa
Sam Gichuru - co-founder and director, Nailab
Kate Kiguru - co-founder and chief innovator, Ukall
Will Mutua - founder, Afrinnovator

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