7 May 2008
Nairobi — Safaricom's popular M-Pesa money transfer was showcased in London as one of the successes in reducing poverty in poor countries.
The M-Pesa service was singled out at a business event, which attracted some of the world's biggest Information Technology companies, among them Vodafone and Cisco.
Thousands of Kenyans use the service everyday to transfer money to people in various destinations using their mobile phones. As a result of its simplicity and being inexpensive, millions of shillings are transacted everyday using the technology.
Cash is paid in and withdrawn from a customer's M-Pesa account at agent outlets, which include local mobile dealers, petrol stations, supermarkets, local shops and even bank branches. The Business Call to Action event urged other companies to emulate Vodafone and Safaricom which used their core business to help reduce poverty in Africa.
The event also highlighted initiatives aimed at eradicating poverty, by more than a dozen global companies including Citi Group, Coca Cola, Diageo, Microsoft, Thomas Reuters and Sumitomo Chemical.
Speaking at the event Tuesday, UK secretary of State for International Development, Mr Douglas Alexander, said a lot needed to be done to meet the set objectives of the Millennium Development Goals target date of 2015.
Vodafone's Chief Executive Officer, Arun Sarin said M-Pesa which was launched last year had registered tremendous growth, with a customer base of two million.
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