M-PESA at 18: What you need to know

On March 6, 2007, Safaricom, in partnership with Vodafone, officially launched M-PESA in Kenya.

Initially met with skepticism, its ease of use and convenience quickly won over users.

A month after the launch, M-PESA had 19,671 mobile active users.

In November of that year, the numbers had ballooned to an unprecedented 1,041,522 active M-PESA users.

M-PESA’s journey has been marked by several significant milestones that have shaped its evolution into a comprehensive financial ecosystem.

M-PESA at 18 remains Kenya’s greatest fintech innovation, revolutionizing financial access and digital payments across Africa.