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

Monday, August 10, 2015

Kenya’s mobile money transfer market is headed for interesting times, with the latest results from the regulator showing small ‘outlier’ firms eating into the market dominated by the well-established players.

The latest Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) statistics show major players gained modestly compared to the established telecoms in the first three months of 2015.

While Equity Bank’s Finserve Africa, Mobikash Afrika and Tangaza Pesa recorded some modest gains in the number of subscriptions and agents between January and March 2015, according to CA statistics, Safaricom, Airtel and Orange did not have as much gains.

Equity Group’s Finserve Africa and Mobikash Afrika recorded an increase in both the number of subscriptions and agents – a clear intention to disrupt the mobile money transfer market.

Virtual network

The exception in this group was Tangaza Pesa, whose growth in both subscriptions and agents plateaued at 503,556 and 1,596 respectively. “The entry into the market by the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) shows there is still potential for growth and further competition in the mobile sub sector,” noted CA in a statement.