The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has given a go ahead that mobile money interoperability can be fully implemented in the eastern Afrikan country. This follows a pilot that kicked off earlier in January 2018 to test mobile money interoperability between Airtel Money and Safaricom's M-PESA. The CBK has said…
Safaricom
Kenya's mobile money interoperability pilot kicks off
Kenya has kicked off the mobile money interoperability pilot between Safaricom's M-PESA and Airtel Money. The pilot kicked off on 22 January 2018 and will involve Safaricom's M-PESA and Airtel Money. Present at the pilot's launch was Kenya's ICT Cabinet Secretary (CS), Joe Mucheru, said that it is hoped that…
The curious case of Nyagaka Anyona Ouko, Safaricom responds - Part III
Having delivered his Mobile Cash Transfer proposal to Safaricom Ltd’s then Chief Executive Officer, Michael Joseph, Nyagaka Anyona Ouko was told to wait a few months as the company looked into it. It turned out that the only other time he would “hear” from the company again was when…
The curious case of Nyagaka Anyona Ouko, the mobile money transfer innovator - Part II
Technology startups in Afrika face many obstacles ranging from lack of funds for starting up and expansion, up to and more frustratingly including government red-tape and bureaucracy. Nyagaka Anyona Ouko experienced one such frustrating experience which forced him to change strategy, and led him into more obstacles. As told in…
The curious case of Nyagaka Anyona Ouko, the mobile money transfer innovator - Part I
Since the launch of the Vodafone Mobile Money Transfer Service, popularly known as M-PESA, in Kenya five years ago, Safaricom have faced a wave of allegations claiming the telecoms giant ‘stole’ the idea. One unresolved case has even ended up in the courts. Nyagaka Anyona Ouko. Another case, although not…
M-PESA's origins
Hailed as the “Kenyan technology success story”, many have claimed M-PESA to be a testimony to the greatness of the East African country’s technology scene, producing world-class technology companies that rival those in South Africa. However, is the acclaimed mobile money service really Kenyan at all? The answer is…
Winter Is Coming For Afrika's Telecommunications Companies
Gone are the days when telecommunications companies were intransigent in Afrika. They were monopolies whose services could only be afforded by spendthrift government officials and the rich citizenry prospering in the private sector. Now they look across their server farms, telecommunications towers, switchboards and dashboards and all they see are…