Safaricom’s net profit for the last six months through September this year jumped 14.4% to Kshs 35.65 billion on strong M-PESA and mobile data revenue growth that offset a decline in voice and SMS revenues.
M-PESA sustained robust growth in the period recording a YoY growth of 18.2% despite the impact of the slow-down in the gaming industry.
The growth was driven by 12.4% YoY increase in 30-day active M-PESA customers to 23.61 million and a 7.8% YoY growth in monthly usage per customer to 13 chargeable transactions per month. The company added 2.6 million active M-PESA customers with MPESA now accounting for 33.8% of service revenue, further accelerating displacement of traditional voice and messaging services. Excluding gaming, revenue grew 20.9% YoY and chargeable transactions per customer per month grew 17.5%.
The story of M-PESA is not new. Since 2007, M-PESA has revolutionized the way people spend, save and send money by bringing convenience and practicality at the comfort of your mobile phone.
