Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-PESA mobile money service went live in Ethiopia on Wednesday.
The service will enable customers to send and receive money, pay bills, buy airtime, and access other financial services using their mobile phones.
Safaricom Ethiopia received the Payment Instrument Issuer License from the National Bank of Ethiopia in May 2023 after winning a telecom license in a competitive bidding process.
The company has invested over $850 million to roll out its network and services in the country, which has a population of over 110 million people.
Stanley Njoroge, interim CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, said that M-PESA will provide a safe and secure platform for transactions and will contribute to the digital inclusion and innovation goals of the Ethiopian government.
“M-Pesa is known to be a game-changer for financial inclusion,” said Stanley Njoroge, Safaricom Ethiopia’s interim CEO.
“We will continue to broaden the services our customers receive from the M-PESA platform that will improve the quality of life for our customers. M-PESA will play its part in tracking digital inclusion and promoting innovation outlined in the Digital Payments Strategy 2025,” he said.
In the first month of its operations in Ethiopia, Safaricom Ethiopia generated Sh98.3 million.
Safaricom Ethiopia Service Revenue for the period ending September 30th, 2022, was Sh 9.1 million. Its total revenue, including handset sales, was Sh98.3 million.
