Safaricom invests Sh407m in M-Pesa global business

Safaricom has invested Sh407 million in its international mobile money transfer business as part of the company’s efforts to expand the usage of the M-Pesa platform.

The investment was made through Instaconnect Limited, a subsidiary which the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm acquired in 2010 and which previously provided content services.

“The company rolled out the international money transfer business through its 100 percent owned subsidiary, Instaconnect Limited, and injected additional capital by acquiring assets worth Sh397 million and a cash transfer of Sh10 million,” Safaricom says in its latest annual report.

“We expect that due to the above investment, there will be more activity that will have a positive impact on the reported results of full year to March 2020 from the operations of the new businesses.”

Safaricom says the international money transfer business, branded M-Pesa Global, handled Sh101 billion or a third of all diaspora remittances into the country in the year ended March.

The platform allows customers to send and receive money, make payments and participate in international e-commerce through partnerships with other payment platforms such as Western Union, PayPal and AliExpress.

Safaricom says the new venture is part of its plan to expand M-Pesa’s users and transactions by expanding the platform’s ecosystem.

M-Pesa’s revenue rose 19.2 percent to Sh75 billion in the year ended March, growing faster than the other business lines, including voice.