Safaricom Granted a License to Operate M-PESA in Ethiopia

• The company has recorded a solid performance reflecting the continued focus on solving customer problems and societal challenges in the period under review.
• The license to run mobile money services in Ethiopia was formally granted to Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia. The license came seven months after the commercial debut of GSM services.
• The M-PESA license will open the country to the world’s largest mobile payment system and Africa’s largest Fintech, and the world’s first mobile money transfer system.

“We are thrilled that this is a great milestone following our entry into Ethiopia,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom PLC. Our location allows us to offer the people of Ethiopia critical financial services. Over the coming months, we eagerly anticipate starting and expanding the service.
More than 30 million users of M-PESA can now transact, save, or borrow money using their mobile devices. According to the 2021 FinAccess Survey, M-PESA helped Kenya reach 84% financial inclusion from a low of 26.7% in 2006 and produced more than KES 117.2 billion ($886 million) in revenue in FY23.

He continued, “Since the commercial launch in October, the brand is well-known, firmly established in Ethiopia, and quickly assimilated into the social fabric. Ethiopia has enormous potential, and we are enthusiastic and hopeful about the future.

With nearly 1300 network sites and over 900 employees, 81% of whom are Ethiopians, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia added close to 3 million new customers during the review period.

It also developed a distributor network with over 114 outlets and provided an award-winning, premium network in 22 cities and regions. Speaking at the release of the results for the entire fiscal year 2022–2023, Mr. Ndegwa noted that Safaricom Kenya’s net income increased by 3.0% to KES 74.5 billion.

Safaricom saw a 5.2% increase in group service revenue to KES 295.7 billion, but a 10.6% decrease in group net income excluding minority interest, which can be attributed to the anticipated start-up costs and investments for launching operations in Ethiopia this year.

While mobile data revenue increased by 11.4% to KES 54.0 billion and M-PESA income increased by 8.8% to KES 117.2 billion, voice service revenue decreased by 2.6% to KES 81.1 billion.

According to Mr. Ndegwa, “We have delivered a strong set of results despite the challenging operating environment brought on by the slowdown in commercial activity during Kenya’s election year, the challenging macroeconomic environment, as well as the change in mobile termination rates, which had a substantial impact on our voice revenues. The company has regained its footing and significant positive momentum. As we transform into a purpose-led technology organization in line with our 5 YR vision, we strongly believe that our company is well-positioned to help our clients and offer technology solutions”