Safaricom Eyes Savings and Credit to Boost M-PESA in Ethiopia
TLDR
- Safaricom plans to introduce savings and credit products in Ethiopia to accelerate the performance of M-PESA, its mobile money service
- The move comes as the platform faces strong competition from Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr, which had over 51.5 million subscribers as of February 2025
- Safaricom and its partners have invested $1 billion in Ethiopia, including $150 million for an M-PESA license
Safaricom plans to introduce savings and credit products in Ethiopia to accelerate the performance of M-PESA, its mobile money service, which has struggled to gain traction since launching in August 2023. The move comes as the platform faces strong competition from Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr, which had over 51.5 million subscribers as of February 2025.
During its latest earnings call, Safaricom reported that only KES 410 million ($3.2 million) of its Ethiopian service revenue came from messaging, wholesale, fixed line, and M-PESA combined, just a fraction of the KES 8.89 billion ($68.9 million) in total service revenue. By comparison, M-PESA accounts for 44.2% of service revenue in Kenya, with more than 35 million users.
“Introducing savings and credit will help transition M-PESA from a payments tool to a broader financial platform,” said CEO Peter Ndegwa, without providing a rollout timeline. Safaricom and its partners have invested $1 billion in Ethiopia, including $150 million for an M-PESA license. With Ethiopia’s financial sector opening up, marked by the launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange and licensing of two investment banks, Safaricom is betting the reforms will support long-term growth.
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Points clés à retenir
M-PESA’s slow uptake in Ethiopia underscores the challenges of breaking into a new market dominated by an incumbent, Telebirr. The service's limited functionality to date, mainly utility payments, contrasts sharply with its Kenyan success, where M-PESA is a multi-service financial ecosystem. Ethiopia’s regulatory environment is beginning to shift. Financial sector liberalization, including foreign investment in banking and the opening of capital markets, creates new pathways for digital financial services to scale. Safaricom’s next phase—introducing lending and savings—mirrors the approach that drove M-PESA’s dominance in Kenya. For this to work in Ethiopia, Safaricom will need more than product offerings—it must build trust, deepen agent networks, and navigate the unique regulatory and competitive terrain. If it succeeds, M-PESA could emerge as a key player in Ethiopia’s evolving digital finance landscape, but the road to profitability will likely require patience and adaptation.
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