Safaricom - Afrikan Heroes

Safaricom Appoints First Female Chief Enterprise Business Officer

August 29, 2022

Leading telecoms giant of East Africa, Safaricom, has announced the appointment of Cynthia Karuri-Kropac as its new Chief Enterprise Business Officer. The appointment will be made effective 1 September 2022. Cynthia Kakuri-Kropac would be the first female to occupy that position, a shift highlighting the company’s gender balancing policy and efforts to get more women into tech.

She is set to replace Joseph Wanjohi, who has been serving in the post in an acting capacity since May of this year. Wanjohi was appointed as interim chief earlier in the year after incumbent Kris Senanu departed the telecom after less than a year after joining.

Kurari-Kropac, a well honed telecoms wonk, will be joining Safaricom from US-based telecommunications titan AT&T, the world’s best-earning telecom group. AT&T raked in revenues upwards of $156-billion according to their report for the year ended in June 2022.

Safaricom, in comparison, pulled in $3.6-billion in revenue for the year ended in March 2022. Most of which were from its M-PESA fintech product.

She served as AT&T’s Senior Director, Enterprise Mobile and IoT Technologies. She had been at the US carrier for the last 19 years.

“With over 20 years experience in the telecommunications sector, Cynthia has a wealth of knowledge in various crafts, including business strategy, industrial IoT, enterprise technology solutions, executive advisory & decision support, operational excellence & process reengineering,” said Safaricom in a statement about the new appointment.

Kurari-Kopac holds a Bachelor in Finance from the University of Toledo and an MBA with a specialization in Finance and Financial Management from Kent State University, both of which are in Ohio, USA.

She has reportedly won several awards for various achievements, including recognition by Women of Color Magazine as a “Rising Star in STEM.”

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

14 Years After, Safaricom’s M-Pesa Becomes A ‘Super App’. Here’s What It Looks Like

June 23, 2021

Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telecoms firm, is about to turn in a game-changer. Following the announcement that efforts to obtain an insurance license are on track, and the recent debut of the video-streaming app Baze, the teleco now appears to be out to dominate the Kenyan market across the board. The M-Pesa Super app, which will be released today, will provide a new method to interact with money. The M-Pesa Super App and its mini-applications will be covered by the new app. Customers and companies utilizing Lipa Na M-Pesa may use the mini-apps to buy, connect with suppliers, and execute hundreds of functions without having to leave the M-Pesa super app.

All M-Pesa users will be able to use the app across all of the company’s markets, including Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Afghanistan, and South Africa.

This launch marks a new stage for the M-Pesa brand since its creation in March 2007. This innovative payment service for unbanked populations has revolutionized mobile money in Africa and around the world. Its enormous success has led Safaricom to make it a full-fledged business unit.

Exploiting M-Pesa’s Growing Customer Base To The Fullest

Recently, Safaricom said it had been testing three new products dubbed Bima (Insurance), Mali (mobile savings) and a unit trust investment product, and had initiated moves to secure regulatory approval in that regard.

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 write

How Safaricom Won Ethiopia’s Telecoms Operating Licence for $850 Million

May 25, 2021

East Africa’s leading Telecoms Company along with its parent company Vodafone has been awarded one operating licence by Ethiopia’s telecommunications regulator at the cost of $850 million. This was announced via a tweet by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed saying that “The Council of Ministers has unanimously made a historic decision today allowing Ethiopian Communications Authority to grant a new nationwide telecom license to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia which offered the highest licensing fee and a very solid investment case.”

Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia's prime minister — Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister

The consortium – led by Safaricom – plans to invest up to $8.5 billion in infrastructure as well as create up to one and a half million jobs.

Ahmed adds, “With over $8 billion total investment, this will be the single largest FDI into Ethiopia to date. Our desire to take Ethiopia fully digital is on track. I would like to thank all that have taken part in this and for pulling off a very transparent and effective process.”

At this stage, there is still one more telco license up for grabs. Balcha Reba, director-general of the Ethiopian Communications Authority, says they plan to open a bid for this license soon and Africa’s largest telecoms company MTN is expected to bid on the remaining license.

MTN Group initially bid $600 million on the first available operating licence, an amount far below what was paid by Safaricom. However, this does not mean the telco is out of the running just yet.

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

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

MTN, Safaricom Jostle for Ethiopia’s Telecoms Operating Licences

April 27, 2021

There are indications that Ethiopia has received two bids, from South Africa’s MTN and a consortium including Kenya’s Safaricom, for new telecoms operating licences. The Ministry of Finance made the announcement in the latest step in the Horn of Africa nation’s efforts to liberalise its economy. The country of 110 million people has one of the world’s last closed telecoms markets.

MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita

Vodafone, Vodacom, the United Kingdom’s CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp are also part of the consortium, the finance ministry said in a post on Twitter announcing the two bids it had received. Brook Taye, a senior advisor at the finance ministry, said that it should not take more than a week for the winners of the licences to be announced.

“We will select the winners after technical and financial evaluation is completed,” Balcha Reba, director general of the Ethiopian Communications Authority, said at a news conference on Monday. The government may award one or two licences and has the right to cancel the bidding process, he added.

The licences will pave the way to open up Ethiopia’s telecoms industry, which is considered the big prize in the country’s push to liberalise the economy. The liberalisation will also involve the sale of a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom, which has said it also plans to launch mobile money transfer services.

“It seems companies like Orange and Etisalat are more interested in buying a stake in Ethio Telecoms,” Brook said, referring to the French and the United Arab Emirates mobile operators.

Kenya’s Safaricom said in a statement that “for structuring purposes, the respective consortium members may invest through special purpose investment vehicles”. The company estimated in 2019 that it would have to pay about $1 billion for a new licence.

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said the consortium had submitted a “strong tender”.

Ethiopia’s licencing process represents the last and largest telecom liberalisation opportunity in the world,” MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita was quoted as saying.

Sumitomo confirmed it had submitted the bid with the other companies, without providing further details. The bid winners will secure full operating licences, but they will not be allowed to operate mobile phone-based financial services, government officials said last year. They will also be required to set up their own network infrastructure, such as cellphone towers, they said.

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

Kenyan Senators Express Worry Over Safaricom’s ‘Monopoly’

November 20, 2020

Senators in Kenya have 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. To this end, they 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

Kenyan Telcos To Compensate Customers For Disrupted Services Under Proposed New Rules

September 14, 2020

Going forward, telecom companies in Kenya must compensate customers whose services have been disrupted by their poor service delivery. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued draft new regulations requiring mobile phone operators Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya to compensate businesses and customers when network outages disrupt voice, data and text services. The draft regulations have been published for public comment and seek to compel the telecommunications providers to either pay or offer credit equivalent to the time users are without voice and SMS services.

What Does The New Regulation Say?

The new rules are aimed at shielding millions of mobile phone clients from poor services related to network outages, including lack of internet connections.
The regulator is permitted by law to sanction any telecommunications company that inconveniences customers through service interruptions as a result of omission on its part.
An operator found in breach risks a fine of up to 0.2 percent of its revenues, which could run into hundreds of millions of shillings. Now, the regulator wants to include compensation to clients for mobile phone outages.

Kenya telcos compensate customers Kenya telcos compensate customers

Licensees must develop and implement an outage credit policy in situations where service is unavailable due to system failure and not as a result of scheduled and publicised maintenance, emergency or natural disaster, say the draft rules.
The policy will compensate subscribers or issue credit equivalent to usage over a similar period that outage lasted and compensate customers for each day that service has been unavailable.
Compensation will be based on how much the operator charges per minute for calls and data.
In 2019, Kenya had 55.2 million mobile phone subscribers who made 58.78 billion minutes of calls, up from 39.19 billion in 2015. Scheduled outages and those caused by factors beyond the control of an operator, technically known as force majeure, usually do not attract sanctions

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

How Going cashless is Helping the War Against Spread of Covid-19 in Africa

May 26, 2020

Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom

The growing adoption of cashless policies across many African countries has been touted as a very impactful strategy in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 in the continent. In most African nations, governments have undertaken extreme health measures such as sensitization campaigns, lockdowns, curfews, and the production of test kits and masks. African tech companies and startups have also not been left behind and are developing digital solutions to meet the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus.

These solutions include Check-in App And Symptom Tracker that was developed by Ghanaian health startup Redbird (formerly Redbird Health Tech), and Chipper Cash that allows to send and receive money across the African continent at no fee. By doing this, platforms like Chipper Cash have significantly assisted in reducing the physical handling of cash. Going cashless has so much been encouraged as it minimizes the risk of coronavirus. We have also seen different other organisations including Safaricom and Jumia encouraging this.

Safaricom partnered with public transport sector players to accept cashless payments through M-PESA. “Many businesses are seeing an increase in demand to accept M-PESA payments due to the ongoing concerns around the Coronavirus’’ Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom says adding that “our partnership with the different public transit players brings the convenience and safety of M-PESA to this crucial sector given the widespread uptake of public transport across the country.”

Jumia Kenya also announced that it had stopped the use of cash for payments with all customers now having to pay via mobile money or bank cards via JumiaPay platform. “This is according to Central Bank of Kenya guidelines that we deter from use of cash as it has been found to be a major vector for Coronavirus infections. You can pay upfront or await delivery to make payments via mobile cashless platforms,” Jumia Kenya MD Sam Chappatte says.

Platforms like Chipper Cash are allowing customers in Kenya to transfer money of up to Ksh.2 million per day or Ksh.15 million per week. Chipper Cash was developed in the heart of Silicon Valley in San Francisco by Uganda’s Ham Serunjogi and Ghana’s Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash and launched in October 2018. It’s available on both Android and iOS mobile devices. “Chipper Cash is enabling Africans to transfer and receive money across Africa in a fast, free and easy way right from their mobile phones. We hope to expand this untapped opportunity in Kenya and continue bringing Africa together, one transaction at a time,” Co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash, Ham Serunjogi says.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that Africa would see coronavirus cases rise from current thousands to 10 million within three to six months. Africa’s tech innovators offering low cost and more advanced tech solutions like Chipper Cash have taken the lead in developing solutions that curb the spread of the virus. Going cashless is setting us up for a cashless society and could indeed be one of the positives to pick from the coronavirus pandemic.

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