Peter Ndegwa - Afrikan Heroes

M-PESA’s New Update Allows Users to Send Money to Multiple People

May 11, 2021

Africa’s leading mobile money provider M-PESA has introduced a new M-PESA app feature that allows users to send money to up to five people at the same time. According to Safaricom, owners of M-PESA, the key reason why it introduced this feature is to make it easier for companies to pay employees via the app.

“Most times you’d have to send them their dues one by one which can be tedious. Now this update should help ease that pressure. We’re not sure yet if it lets you select different amounts for different people but if that’s the case it’s even better.”

MTN Group has reportedly made a bid for an Ethiopian telecommunications licence alongside Vodacom Group and Safaricom. Finance ministry adviser, Brook Taye says that the consortium of bids is led by Safaricom.

“We always wanted quality providers and this is what we have received,” adds Taye. “These are two African giants — the Safaricom-led consortium and MTN — either one or two of the operators will get a licence in Ethiopia.”

Kenya’s geographical proximity to Ethiopia is expected to be one reason why Safaricom leads the consortium.

The CEO of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, said that he would continue to pursue ways to introduce the company’s data, M-PESA and geographical expansion to Ethiopia as part of his strategy to take Africa-wide telecom to the next level of growth.

Taye revealed that Ethiopia will take a few days to review the technical offer and then open the financial bids. The government is looking to award two full-service telecoms licences as part of its plan to attract more foreign investment to its economy.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Safaricom Partners Nokia to Launch East Africa’s First Commercial 5G Services

March 27, 2021

Subscribers of East Africa’s leading telecoms network Safaricom are in a very new experience as Nokia announce that it is powering East Africa’s first 5G commercial services with Safaricom.

What this means is that Nokia’s 5G Single Radio Access Network (SRAN) technology and 5G FastMile gateways enable ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services will be fully deployed in Kenya to Safaricom’s subscribers across Kisumu and the Western Province of Kenya.

5G technology will enable new applications in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence for Safaricom subscribers. It will also benefit enterprises across important energy, healthcare, education, transport and entertainment applications.

At a launch event in Nairobi, Safaricom showcased the capabilities of the 5G network with three use cases — 5G hologram, Ultra-HD video communication and virtual fashion shopping. In the hologram showcase, the live 5G network was used to teleport Safaricom’s executives from Safaricom office in Kisumu to the launch event in Nairobi. And in the second showcase, Ultra-HD video communication was made using the 5G Fixed Wireless Access connectivity powered by WiFi-6 with Nokia Beacon 6. The third showcase of virtual shopping will change shopping experience allowing users to try on clothes “virtually”.

Nokia has leveraged its AirScale SRAN platform to enable ultra-low latency, huge connectivity and extreme capacity to support the demands of today and tomorrow. The 5G network utilizes massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) radio to improve spectral efficiency and throughput capacity, maximizing the return on Safaricom’s RAN investment. In addition, Nokia’s FastMile 5G gateway provides fiber like speeds for fixed wireless services to subscribers. Also, the company’s network planning, deployment and integration services ensured timely rollout of the network.

As part of the network, Nokia 5G Cloud Mobility Manager delivers the scalability, flexibility, high availability and performance needed to support the growth of mobile and enterprise services. Nokia’s NetAct network management system helps Safaricom have consolidated network view for improved network monitoring and management.

Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom, said: “We are proud to be the first operator in the East Africa to launch 5G services, bringing the benefits of 5G technology to our customers. 5G capabilities will change a lot of things in unimaginable ways for people and enterprises, playing a key role towards fulfilling our vision to transform lives. Our long-term partner Nokia’s technologies and services expertise helped us achieve this milestone in our journey to provide world-class broadband services to our customers.”

Amr K. El Leithy, SVP, Middle East and Africa Market, Nokia, said: “With over 200 commercial 5G agreements with leading customers across the globe, Nokia has been bringing 5G network to every part of the world. Our 5G network for Safaricom is a key part of this journey and we are committed to working with the operator to transform the communications landscape in the country. This will open new business opportunities for Safaricom.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Kenya’s Telecoms Giant, Safaricom to Bid to Expand in Ethiopia

February 18, 2021

After denying plans to bid for license in Ethiopia, Kenya’s leading Telecoms Company, Safaricom has now joined the fray with other five companies vying for the chance to claim one of two Ethiopian telecoms licences. This is one opportunity that the telco has been waiting on and one that might grant access to a licence in an economy with more than 100-million people.

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority (ECA) after much delay, issued a statement last year announcing that the country would be open to selling a 40% stake in the state-owned company. In response to this announcement, Safaricom and its parent company, Vodacom both expressed their interest in buying a stake in Ethio Telecom. The ECA has “whittled the list down from a consortium of 12 that had expressed interest in entering the country’s telecommunications market”. The consortium includes; Etisalat, Axian, MTN, Orange and Telkom SA.

Each of the companies, including Safaricom, must submit technical and financial bids by 5 April 2021. “We are working towards the final submission around March/April,” says Michael Joseph, Safaricom Chairman. However, Kenya’s geographical proximity to Ethiopia is expected to be one reason why Safaricom could lead the consortium. “I think it will be a very good exposure to Safaricom from the perspective of geographical closeness on the one perspective, but also giving Safaricom additional exposure to more growth areas,” says Vodacom’s chief executive, Shameel Joosub.

The CEO of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, notes that he would continue to pursue ways to introduce the company’s data, M-PESA and geographical expansion to Ethiopia as part of his strategy to take Africa-wide telecom to the next level of growth.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

M-Pesa To Have Investment And Insurance Features If Safaricom’s New License Applications Succeed

December 8, 2020

Safaricom is not yet done with Kenya, despite calls by parliament to de-monopolise the owner of the M-Pesa mobile money brand. The latest development is that applications are pending before the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and if successful, M-Pesa will have added unto it, insurance, unit trust and saving products.

“We are exploring the area of wealth management. We have developed a couple of products and we are seeking regulatory approval. Until the approval is given, we may not want to announce the specifics of the products,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

Safaricom Insurance

Here Is What You Need To Know

Safaricom has been testing the three products dubbed Bima (Insurance), Mali (mobile savings) and a unit trust investment product, and has now initiated moves to secure regulatory approval in that regard.
This is the latest plan to grow the mobile money platform beyond sending and receiving cash, tapping loans as well as paying for goods to include insurance and wealth management.
CEO Peter Ndegwa says the telco wants to tap into M-Pesa’s 26.7 million active customers that transact about Sh1.5 trillion a month to grow the savings, unit trust and insurance products.
Mali (Kiswahili for wealth), will offer interest rates of 10 percent on deposits capped at Sh70,000 per saver based on a pilot test. It started testing the savings product in December.
Safaricom growth strategy hinges on widening M-Pesa offerings and bolster its data business through switching about four million 2G and 3G phones to 4G to offset a fall in revenue from mobile calls amid a saturated market.
Mr Ndegwa says the telco wants to use the new products as part of the strategy to broaden M-Pesa into a financial service provider that will rival banks, insurance firms and fund managers.
In November this year, Senators in Kenya expressed worries over the growing strength of the country’s leading telecoms firm, Safaricom, warning that it is too big for the competition and giving the impression that there is no level playing ground in the country’s telecoms industry.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Safaricom Urged to Reduce M-Pesa Transaction Fees

November 29, 2020

In what observers say is part of strategy to appeal to more customers after Senators mull breaking up the giant telecoms company for fear of growing into a monopoly, Safaricom plans to reduce M-Pesa transaction fees, after complaints over the imposition of free M-Pesa for deals of up to Sh 1,000. The company says this is part of its plan to retain the higher business volumes that followed the change in strategy. Safaricom CEO, Peter Ndegwa confirmed this, saying “We intend to reduce our transaction costs over time. How quickly we do that is something we want to judge but certainly, we haven’t made a decision yet at this stage.”

It could be recalled that Senators in Kenya believe that Safaricom should split into two firms – Mobile Services and M-PESA. According to The Star, a split would see the mobile telephony service regulated by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the M-Pesa division regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The Senators believe there should be a level playing ground for the likes of Telkom and Airtel Kenya who operate at the mercy of Safaricom as they owe it billions of shillings.

“The market is not competitive any more. The other operators should be allowed to operate, by giving the dominant operator its right, but also allowing the others to operate, and allow innovation in the country,” says Senator Petronilla Were of the ICT committee. Senator Irungu Kang’ata echoed this sentiment, saying “in Kenya, you have a situation where one single player dictates how much you are going to pay for data bundles, for calls and Short Message Service because it controls almost 90 per cent of the market”.

“In such a situation, I do not foresee any other entity growing. We are not going to create more jobs and innovation in that industry because of the dominance of one entity.”

Senator Enock Wambua urged Safaricom to confirm whether it is a communication company or a banking institution. “I would suggest that Safaricom is split into two. Safaricom the communication company, regulated by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), and the M-Pesa division regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry