Safaricom, the largest mobile operator in Kenya, announced that its service revenue growth of 7% for the year ending March 31 was driven by strong M-PESA performance, contributing roughly three quarters to the service revenue growth. Safaricom's net profit grew by 14.7 percent to Sh63.4 billion during the period.
Safaricom said its M-PESA revenue grew by 19.2% to Sh74.99bn. The growth in M-PESA has been driven by an increased number of users, higher velocity of funds within the ecosystem, and adoption of new use cases. In the period, the Operator added 2.1 million active M-PESA customers. MPESA now accounts for 31.2% of service revenue, further accelerating displacement of traditional voice and messaging services.
Safaricom predicts that within three years Mpesa will generate more revenue than all other parts of the business combined, according to Financial Times.
