NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Seth Onyango

With global remittances set to reach $5.4 trillion by 2030, according to a specialized UN agency, African fintech darling M-Pesa wants to grab a piece of the pie. The Kenyan fintech behemoth is ramping up an ambitious expansion drive to woo markets in the global North.

According to the UN specialized agency, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in the 2021/22 forecast period, remittance flow ($605 billion) was more than triple the total amount of official international development assistance ($178.6 billion).

Photo courtesy of Scott Mainwaring.