Made in Kenya: the success story M-PESA – the world’s first major mobile payment platform

A remarkable 59 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) is processed through M-PESA, the country’s leading mobile payment system. This translated into 20 billion transactions in 2023.

To put M-PESA’s dominance into perspective, consider PayPal, which had a total payment volume of US$1.53 trillion in 2023. Even if we assume that 80 percent of these transactions occurred in the US – a highly unlikely scenario – it would still represent less than 5 percent of the US GDP flowing through the platform.

While M-PESA is a powerhouse in Kenya, its parent company Safaricom is relatively small compared to its global competitors. PayPal’s revenues are over 10 times greater, and Apple’s revenues exceed those of Safaricom by more than 150 times. So, why haven’t any of these international giants surpassed this Kenyan company?

One of M-PESA’s recent achievements is Fuliza, an overdraft service launched in 2019. According to M-PESA Africa’s managing director, Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the Fuliza service disbursed over $6.4 billion in the last financial year.