Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money services have caused quite a stir over the last year, as users transacted a mammoth Ksh.35.86 trillion through the platform. The incredible figure was revealed in audited results for the financial year ending March 2023, showing that M-Pesa remains the highest earner for Safaricom.
The total transaction value grew by an impressive 21.4% to Ksh.35.86 trillion, while the volumes also rose significantly by 33.5%, reaching Ksh.21.03 billion. Moreover, M-Pesa’s revenue increase is thanks to the growth of chargeable transactions per one-month active customer by 16.2%. These results make M-Pesa the biggest revenue earner for Safaricom, accounting for 39.7% of service revenue.
However, Safaricom did note that there was a slump in its M-Pesa growth due to macroeconomic effects on the economy, causing significant impacts on business activity. “The slowdown in M-PESA growth was mainly due to macroeconomic effects on the economy which affected the business activity,” said Safaricom board Chair Adil Khawaja.
Despite this, Safaricom experienced a 5.2% growth in monthly active M-Pesa customers, now totaling 32.11 million users. Additionally, the Average Revenue per Unit (ARPU) rose by 1.9% YoY to Ksh.311.28.
Furthermore, Safaricom announced that it had received a license to operate mobile money services in Ethiopia, marking a pivotal milestone for the company. “We are excited that this is a great milestone following our entry into Ethiopia. This positions us to provide essential financial services to the Ethiopian population. We are looking forward to launching and rolling out the service over the next few months,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.
Ndegwa also added that since the commercial launch in October, the M-Pesa brand has become deeply rooted in Ethiopia and is quickly becoming a fabric of society. The potential for Ethiopia is tremendous, and Safaricom is excited about the future.
Despite all the impressive achievements, Safaricom PLC recorded a Ksh.52.5 billion profit for the financial year ending March 2023, marking a 22% dip from the Ksh.67.5 billion recorded in 2022. Adil Khawaja attributed the drop to factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the 2022 General Election.
Nevertheless, Safaricom remains optimistic and continues to strive towards growth and success.