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

Telecommunications firm Safaricom has established an online sales platform in a move expected to roil Kenya’s fast-growing e-commerce market.

The platform, known as Masoko, Kiswahili for markets, is modelled after retail e-commerce giants Alibaba (Chinese) and Amazon (US).  It is currently undergoing internal testing ahead of rollout later this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

It will ride on Safaricom’s successful mobile money platform, M-Pesa and will target the fast mushrooming formal retail and informal online trading in Kenya.