Mobile Money Titans Clash: Safaricom’s M-PESA Hits 1.2 Million Users in Ethiopia, Challenging Telebirr’s Dominance











In the competitive landscape of Ethiopia’s mobile money market, a significant development unfolded with Safaricom’s announcement during its 2023/2024 Half Year Results. The Kenyan telecom giant has successfully registered 1.2 million customers for its M-PESA service in Ethiopia since its inception in August. M-PESA’s rollout was a strategic move by Safaricom, positioning it against Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr, the leading mobile money service in a country with over 100 million people. This expansion is part of Safaricom’s broader vision to increase financial inclusion in a country where only 35% of the population currently has access to financial services.

Safaricom’s M-PESA, a mobile money service that revolutionized financial transactions in Kenya, is now making strides in Ethiopia’s burgeoning market. Since its launch, the service has seen transactions worth Ksh. 43.7 billion, and the establishment of a network comprising 23,000 agents and 12,000 merchants. This growth signals Safaricom’s commitment to fostering a cash-lite economy and enhancing financial services in Ethiopia.

The CEO of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, underscored the company’s ambitions, emphasizing Ethiopia’s role in its growth strategy. He noted the impressive uptake of M-PESA services, comparing it favorably with Kenya’s trajectory, where similar usage levels took nearly a decade to achieve. The company’s progress is evident, with expansion to 22 cities and a customer base now standing at 4.1 million users.

Safaricom has tailored its services to the Ethiopian market, offering M-PESA access through a USSD code and planning to introduce an app in multiple languages, catering to the diverse linguistic landscape of Ethiopia. This move is set against the backdrop of Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr, which dominates the market with over 50 million subscribers, highlighting the clash of these two titans in a race to dominate mobile money services in one of Africa’s most populous nations.



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