Safaricom Afro-Asia Fintech Festival Held At Kenya School Of Monetary Studies

The two-day festival will provide a platform for connection, collaborations and exchange of ideas between Africa and Asia in the area of financial technology and innovation. Modelled after the Singapore Fintech Festival, the afro-Asia FinTech Festival targets policymakers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and researchers across Africa, Asia and other parts of the globe. It will also feature visionary speakers and icons from both continents.

• In 2006, one year before M-PESA was launched, the country’s 41 commercial banks had a network of 400 branches and 600 ATMs across the country with a population of 36 million Kenyans.
• At the time, only 26.4 per cent of Kenyans had access to formal financial instruments like banks and
microfinance institutions. 35.2 per cent accessed informal instruments such as savings groups and about
38.4 percent were financially excluded.
• Since its launch 12 years ago, M-PESA has been credited with deepening formal financial inclusion to over
75 per cent.
• By 2017, more than 20 million mobile bank accounts had been opened, accounting for 40 to 50 per cent
of all bank accounts in the country.
• M-PESA’s success has been broad: 22.6 million registered subscribers, more than KES 15 Million processed
every minute on the platform and an average of two mobile loans disbursed every second.
• In the last Financial Year, M-PESA accounted for 31.2% per cent of our revenues, at KES 74.99 billion.

• It is estimated that M-PESA has lifted more than 194,000 Kenyan households out of extreme poverty since
2008.
• With close to 170,000 M-PESA agents throughout the country, many Kenyans are never more than two
kilometers away from an M-PESA Agent, making it arguably the most accessible mobile money transfer
service.
• M-PESA has partnered with financial sector to transform the industry and allow for more inclusion. It has
allowed banks to reach millions of customers who had been left out of the traditional brick and mortar
branches.
• The story of FinTech in Savannah is not only limited to endless opportunities that M-PESA has brought
onto us. We are also part lucky to have been in the right place at the right time – the digital revolution era. This era is characterized by the existence of technology that increases the speed and breadth of
knowledge turnover within the society. Today’s economic, political and social activities are heavily
dependent on technology. Purpose Driven Business Ladies and Gentlemen
• It is said that lady luck shines on all, but rather than having your umbrella overhead, you’ve got to have your
face to the sky.
• It is not by luck that Safaricom has been able to strike all the right cords so to say. We have been preparing
for these opportunities, because we are driven by our purpose, the reason Safaricom exists, is to Transform
Lives.
• It’s an ethos that lies at the core of our business, making Safaricom a purpose-driven company dedicated
to putting reputation before revenue.
• We believe that when you put Purpose and People first, then Profits will follow. We call this the 3Ps.
• This purpose has driven us to regard ourselves as more than a traditional telco; Safaricom is a platform
designed to leverage the power of mobile technology to transform lives.
• Today, Safaricom is an enabler, connecting people to people, people to knowledge and people to
opportunity.

Use of Mobile Technology to Transform Lives
Ladies and gentlemen
• The power of the mobile phone is immense. The small pocket- size gadget has had a significant contribution
to socioeconomic development around the world.
• In 2018, mobile technologies and services generated $3.9 trillion of economic value (4.6% of GDP) globally,
a contribution that will reach $4.8 trillion (4.8% of GDP) by 2023 as countries increasingly benefit from the
improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services.
• Increased Internet penetration and ubiquity of the mobile phone have opened up numerous opportunities for
businesses to deliver more innovative digital products and services.
• At 83 per cent, Kenya is leading in share of mobile phone internet traffic overtaking Nigeria, which was
at the top in 2017.
• With over 100 FinTech products in the country, the FinTech industry in Kenya has attracted huge
investments over the last years and is estimated to be worth around 1Billion USD by year 2020.
• This presents exciting opportunities for us to tap into the power of the mobile phone to deliver relevant – and
in some cases crucial – services.
• In line with our purpose Transforming Lives, we are using technology to create sustainable ways of doing
things by focusing on innovation verticals of health, education, healthcare, economic empowerment amongst
others.
• Social innovations such as M-TIBA, a mobile healthcare wallet, have led to over 2 Million dollars invested
in the health sector benefiting millions of Kenya through sustainable solutions in healthcare.
• M-TIBA allows people to save from as low as KES 10 (about 10 US cents) for their health care and to
access services in quality assured health centers.
• Digifarm, mobile-based agribusiness platform that provides smallholder farmers with access to affordable
quality farming solutions enabling farmers increase their yield, access credit, farm inputs, and connect the
farmers to markets. Over 1 Million farmers have been registered on the platform.
• In 2016, we launched Shupavu 291 in partnership with Eneza Education. Shupavu 291 is a mobile based
education service that gives students in primary and secondary school access to curriculum-approved
lessons, assessments, Ask-A-Teacher and Wikipedia at a cost of KES 10 (about 10 US cents) per week.
The service also provides teacher development courses, while parents can access a basic business course.
• Since its launch, Shupavu 291 has spread its reach to countries such as Ghana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe,
surpassing 2.1 million users and winning in the Best Mobile Innovation for Education category at the
Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO) 2018.

• We have hundreds of success stories, from our agents, partners, traders amongst others, about how MPESA has aided their businesses, improved their livelihoods, stories about how their lives have been
transformed.
• According to the 2019 FinAccess Household Survey conducted by FSD Kenya, an estimated 83 per cent
of Kenyan adults have access to formal financial services, many of them access money transfer,
savings, payments and credit services through their mobile money wallets.
• This is a remarkable increase since 2006, when formal financial inclusion stood at 26.4 per cent.
• The survey also ranks Kenya the third most financially inclusive country in Africa behind Seychelles and
South Africa, supporting data from the Communications Authority that over 91 per cent of the country’s GDP
– close to KES 8 trillion – was transacted via mobile money in 2018.
• It’s a testimony to the transformative power of the mobile phones, and the potential they have to not only
keep people connected to each other, but to knowledge and opportunity.
• With mobile phone penetration in Kenya at 100 per cent, most families have access to at least one mobile
phone, making it possible to use these devices as powerful tools for social and economic development.
• That a telecommunications company can venture into non-traditional sectors, connecting customers to
critical services through mobile devices, points to the increasing digitalization of Africa’s economy, and
the opportunities that lie therein.
• By closing the digital divide through sustained efforts to democratize the mobile phone and deepen Internet
penetration, we can drive economic benefits deep into previously excluded communities, creating
employment and business opportunities where they are needed most.

• Over the last few years, we have been exploring further avenues for collaboration in the FinTech sector,
tapping into the success of M-PESA over the last decade to launch mobile savings and credit products with
partners such Commercial Bank of Africa (M-Shwari & Fuliza) and KCB Group (KCB-M-PESA).
• M-PESA is the single biggest contributor to growing formal financial inclusion in Kenya
• M-PESA’s convenience, affordability, traceability and ubiquity have made it a viable solution to the
county and national governments’ efforts to streamline and digitize revenue collection.
• It is now possible to pay for acquisition and renewal of driving licenses, passports, parking and county land
rates using M-PESA: all processes that often provide opportunities for middlemen and the associated
corruption.
• So far, a number of counties including Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega and Kiambu have automated their
revenue collection systems, making considerable savings and enhancing service delivery to their citizens.
• In addition, collaboration with partners such as PayPal and Google is giving M-PESA users in Kenya access
to the global market place, opening up global e-commerce for buyers and sellers via PayPal, and allowing
Kenya’s tech-savvy population to pay for mobile apps and games on the Google Play store via M-PESA.
• 12 years after the launch of M-PESA, the service has grown from more than a P2P mobile money transfer
service, to the preferred payments platform for P2B, B2B and P2G transactions.
• Financial Inclusion is not a term we use lightly or conveniently to suit us when needed. We have invested to
ensure that we leave no one behind. Last year we launched the DOT Braille Watch an innovation that is an
equivalent of a smart gear that displays SMS notifications in Braille hence enabling a visually impaired
person to read.
• This service enables persons living with visual impairment and blindness to access M-PESA messages in
braille format and conduct financial transactions with confidentiality.
• While financial inclusion has the potential to lift people from poverty through savings and affordable credit,
more importantly, it ensures that individuals are able to identify, access and leverage financial tools that help
them save for the future, protect themselves from economic shocks, support their entrepreneurial goals and
otherwise contribute to their well-being, should be a key priority for public sector and non-government entities
alike.
• These examples all represent the breadth of opportunities present for partnerships across various sectors,
opportunities that have the power to transform lives and ensure shared prosperity for all in line with the
U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

• Despite the gains made in adoption of digital and mobile payments over the years, more than 90 per cent of
transactions in the country today are still cash transactions.
• While cash transactions are practical and innate to the daily consumer experience, studies have shown that
a highly cash-led economy facilitates a shadow economy where economic crimes like corruption, tax evasion
and money laundering pervade.
• According to a 2017 report by the World Bank, there are 6 ATMs and 5 banking halls per 100,000 adults,
and 73 mobile phones for every 100 people. This report sums it up for us; as to where the opportunities lie.
Next phase of the FinTech evolution presents more opportunities for innovative developers and service
providers.
• It is estimated that by year 2020 sub- Sahara Africa will have over 525 Million smartphones. As a telco, we
see endless possibilities for business beyond borders, we are currently reviewing our ecommerce
proposition Masoko to ensure that we are positioned ready to take off.
• Masoko’s vision is to democratize e-commerce by connecting customers and manufacturers to the online
marketplace, in that way “Taking Africa to the world”. Our ambition is to use the platform to bring the market to small businesses wherever they are in Kenya, and to give them access to opportunities presented by the
rapid growth of e-commerce across the globe.
• What more can a pocket-size gadget offer, you ask? At Safaricom we are purposed to transform lives by
investing in technology and knowledge that it will widen the reach of the possibilities we have seen in the
last two decades to reach right across Africa, using that pocket- sized gadget.

Conclusion
• You have heard Safaricom story, the M-PESA story, we have set the foundation and we believe we’ve got it
right, well at least some of it. How will you leverage on this successful gadget to make sure that no one gets
left behind?
• That Africa’s growth is hinged on mobile networks is not in doubt.
• To conclude, I would like to quote my departed friend, colleague and boss, Bob. In his last thought leadership
piece, he wrote and I quote “These are exciting times for ICT in Africa, and companies such as ours are on
the cusp of something great: we are in a position to lead the 4th industrial revolution, to boost the continent’s
digital economy, supported by a young, empowered, digitally connected population.
• The question is: are we ready to invest, to collaborate, to think different and take the risks that will position
us favourably to tap into these opportunities?”
Thank you