M-Pesa, one of Africa's largest financial platforms, launched in Ethiopia on Wednesday.

Dejan Kastelic, Vodacom Group's chief technology officer, commended the Safaricom Ethiopia team on the launch of M-Pesa, this week.

M-Pesa, one of Africa's largest financial platforms, launched in Ethiopia on Wednesday after a three-month pilot and testing period.

This is a remarkable accomplishment as the Vodacom Group continues to promote and live digital and financial inclusion in all of our operating markets, according to Kastelic.

He continued: “The launch of M-Pesa in Ethiopia opens up the potential provision of financial services to a largely unbanked population through the power of mobile technology. Safaricom Ethiopia has come a long way in a very short space of time since its official commercial launch in October 2022.”

Vodacom hold a 35% stake in Safaricom Group.

On Wednesday, Stanley Njoroge, interim CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, said: “We are excited to go live with M-Pesa in Ethiopia and start providing mobile financial services to our customers.

“M-Pesa provides services to more than 51 million customers across seven countries in Africa, offering a safe and secure platform for transactions."

According to Njoroge, the company will continue to expand the services that consumers receive through the M-PESA platform in order to improve their quality of life and M-PESA would help accelerate digital inclusion and support innovation as specified in the Digital Payments Strategy 2025.

The Ethiopian debut of M-Pesa comes as the platform continues to grow, with offerings such as loan and savings products.

In the quarter ended June, loan and savings products accounted for about 60% of M-Pesa's growth.

M-Pesa, owned jointly by Vodacom Group and Safaricom, is an important revenue source for both telcos. 

Revenue from M-Pesa increased 34.4% to $106 million in the current reporting period, driven by customer growth and the adoption of additional services.