Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO.

As Vodacom Group expands into financial services, the company announced today that it transacted $400.2 billion through its mobile money platforms, including Safaricom, in the previous 12 months.

The pan-African telecom company, headquartered in South Africa and operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania, today provided shareholders with an update for the quarter ended June 30.

Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, informed shareholders and the market that financial services are "a clear strategic priority" for the Group and remain the largest component of beyond mobile services.

He said: “We now process US$400 billion in mobile wallet transaction value annually, highlighting the scale of this business.

“I was particularly pleased with the growth of M-PESA services that aim to deepen financial inclusion, such as loans, savings, international money transfer and merchant services.”

M-PESA Africa was established in 2020 as a joint venture between Safaricom and Vodacom Group, but M-PESA was launched in 2007 in Kenya, and is now available across eight countries, with Safaricom, Vodacom, and Vodafone providing services in Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Ghana.

M-PESA is used by more than 60 million users each month, forming an ecosystem that connects them to over 950,000 merchants and 5 million businesses, as well as over 60,000 developers and 600,000 agents.

Today, Joosub said M-PESA and its other super-apps, VodaPay and Vodafone Cash, are critical to pursuing Vodacom Group's financial services objectives because they combine its own products and services with "the best offerings" from its partners.

In the quarter, he said that group financial services revenue of $179 million (R3.3 billion) was also underpinned by rapid local currency growth of 87.0% in Egypt, and significant growth in South Africa within Vodacom's insurance and Airtime Advance categories.

Joosub added: “Across our geographic segments, Egypt remains a star performer having grown service revenue at 43.7% in local currency, well above the rate of inflation.

“South Africa delivered a resilient 1.8% increase in service revenue, while Tanzania and DRC were the significant contributors to the 5.7% growth in our International business.”

The success of financial services comes as Vodacom aims to become Africa's leading fintech provider, citing financial services as critical to its business model.

In recent months, the telco has actively pursued its fintech strategy.