![[Africa Tech Week] Nixon Kanali: M-Pesa now has more than 31 million monthly users in Kenya](Images/Key Persons/Nixon_Kanali_.jpeg)
[Africa Tech Week] Nixon Kanali: M-Pesa now has more than 31 million monthly users in Kenya
Lots of interesting tech news coming from Africa this week with the biggest announcement being Safaricom’s mobile money platform M-Pesa turning 15. Since Safaricom and Vodafone launched the service in Kenya back in 2007, M-PESA has grown to more than 51 million customers, 465,000 businesses, 600,000 agents and 42,000 developers across Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Ghana and Egypt. The service processes more than 61 million transactions a day making it Africa’s largest fintech provider.
In Kenya, the service also celebrated crossing 30 million customers using the service every month. In 2021, M-PESA Africa launched the M-PESA Super App and an M-PESA Business Super App bringing front-end insights on customer spending, direct access to statements, and much more into one single app. This week, the app scooped a global award at MWC 2022. The app won under the category for “Best Mobile Innovation for Connected Living” edging out other nominations from across the globe.
Safaricom was not the only African telco in the news this week. MTN Group reported strong financial, operational and sustainability results in 2021 in a tough macro environment. Telecom Egypt also announced its results reporting a 74% net profits increase. MTN Group and Rakuten Symphony signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct live 4G and 5G OpenRAN Proof of Concept (PoC) trials in South Africa, Nigeria, and Liberia. Airtel Nigeria announced that customers on its network can now call their loved ones, family members and friends in Ukraine for free. Insurance group Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL), announced it has purchased an additional 10% stake in submarine fibre optic cable project SEACOM. Vodacom Business launched an online resource hub, specifically designed to help SMEs unlock their full potential as they embark on a digital transformation journey.
African startups were also in the news this week. Cadana, the salary on-demand startup expanded operations into Nigeria following a strategic partnership with Flutterwave. Dream VC, a Remote Venture Capital Upskilling Institute opened applications for its 2022 fellowship program for VCs in Africa. Nairobi headquartered e-mobility startup BasiGo also flagged off the first electric buses in the country for passenger use. Smart addressing startup, OkHi secured a $1.5 million seed extension, bringing the total of its seed funding to $3 million. In Ghana, fintech startup, Dash, raised $32.8m seed round. In Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank opened applications for the 5th cohort of its Women in Tech incubator program. This week, African Tech Vision, a non-profit-organization supporting early-stage female tech founders also announced 26 startups that will be joining its 2nd Mentorship Program.
As part of the events planned for this year's International Women's Day on March 8, Microsoft this week announced that it will be hosting a three-day international digital camp targeting girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Other top highlights of the week included Busha, a crypto exchange in Nigeria announcing the launch of its new crypto savings feature Busha Yield, Phase3 Telecom moving onto digital connectivity enterprise in Nigeria and West Africa and CISCO releasing a study that revealed privacy is now mission-critical for organizations worldwide.
Nixon Kanali is the Tech Editor for Africa Business Communities.
