Safaricom has extended its M-PESA Global service to Ethiopia, allowing customers to transact mobile money from Kenya to Ethiopia.
Through this expansion, the two companies aim to increase mobile money use and penetration across Ethiopia boosting local economies as well as creating opportunities for individuals and businesses across the region.
Safaricom Kenya’s Chief Financial Services Officer, Esther Waititu, said: “This collaboration resonates with our commitment to deliver innovative financial solutions that cater to the evolving needs of our customers. By making cross-border transfers more accessible, efficient and cost-effective, we are empowering individuals and businesses across the region.”
How to send money from Kenya to Ethiopia via M-PESA?
Customers in M-PESA Kenya can now make mobile money transfers to M-PESA Ethiopia via the M-PESA International Remittance. Through this collaboration, customers in both countries will only require their M-PESA wallets.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Elsa Muzzolini – Safaricom Ethiopia’s Chief Financial Services Officer stated, “We are thrilled to work with M-PESA Kenya, especially at a time of foreign exchange policy reforms made by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) that encourages a growing number of Ethiopian diaspora and business owners are embracing digital payments to send money to their loved ones and fund their operations.”
“Our M-PESA Ethiopia customers should now be able to receive safe and affordable transfers from M-PESA Kenya thanks to this collaboration, which will further promote the region’s adoption of digital payments. We look forward to a successful collaboration,” she added.
This expansion of M-PESA Global to Ethiopia is a significant step towards strengthening financial integration in East Africa and promoting economic growth.
Key beneficiaries of the latest development include Ethiopians living and working in Kenya, and Kenyans living and working in Ethiopia.
In addition to Ethiopia, M-PESA customers can also send and receive money to over 190 countries making it the mobile-money proposition of choice catering for both individual and corporate transactions.
