Mobile money transfer platform M-Pesa has hit the 50 million active users mark in Africa as it eyes to expand services across the continent.
The mobile financial services platform is operated by Safaricom in Kenya and South Africa’s Vodacom, which runs the services through its subsidiaries in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Lesotho, Ghana and Egypt.
Safaricom and Vodacom acquired the M-Pesa brand and platform from their UK parent firm Vodafone Plc to form the joint venture, M-Pesa Africa, in April last year.
The two telcos plan to grow M-Pesa beyond the existing markets.
Safaricom pioneered the person-to-person money transfer service in March 2007, which has since grown to a lucrative platform also offering customer-to business (C2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) services.
“14 years ago, we launched M-Pesa to connect our customers to each other and to different opportunities. We are delighted to celebrate this remarkable milestone with our more than 50 million customers across the continent,” Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the M-Pesa Africa managing director, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We are reiterating our commitment and deepening our focus on more innovations that will further transform the lives of our customers,” he said.
In June, Safaricom launched M-Pesa Super app that enables users to ask for money from friends, family or people who owe them money.
Customers on the app can also send money to multiple users of the mobile service, pay for insurance and buy tickets for buses, trains and concerts.
M-Pesa, which allows users to send and receive cash, and pay for goods and services even on basic feature phones, has powered Safaricom’s earnings in recent years.
