Africa: M-Pesa Market Share Declines for Fifth Consecutive Quarter

20 March 2025
Daba Finance (Abidjan)

TLDR

  • M-PESA, Safaricom's mobile money platform, has recorded its fifth consecutive quarterly decline, with its market share dropping by 2.3 percentage points to 91% in Q4 2024
  • Airtel Money increased its share from 7.6% to 8.9%, according to data from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA)
  • The decline reflects growing competition in Kenya's mobile money market, driven by increased interoperability and Airtel Money's aggressive pricing strategy

M-PESA, Safaricom's mobile money platform, has recorded its fifth consecutive quarterly decline, with its market share dropping by 2.3 percentage points to 91% in Q4 2024. Meanwhile, Airtel Money increased its share from 7.6% to 8.9%, according to data from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA).

The decline reflects growing competition in Kenya's mobile money market, driven by increased interoperability and Airtel Money's aggressive pricing strategy. Airtel Money has attracted new users with lower fees, transaction refunds as airtime, and a growing agent network. Sending KES 1,000 ($7.7) costs KES 11 ($0.085) on Airtel Money compared to KES 13 ($0.093) on M-PESA, while withdrawing the same amount costs KES 29 ($0.22) on Airtel, KES 2 less than M-PESA.

Despite the shift, M-PESA remains dominant, processing over 30 billion transactions worth KES 40 trillion ($308.8 billion) and serving 34 million customers. Airtel Money has eight million registered users. The Central Bank of Kenya's planned agent interoperability and the introduction of a new Fast Payment System (FPS), allowing instant transactions across all financial institutions, could further disrupt the market.

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Key Takeaways

M-PESA's shrinking market share signals growing competition in Kenya's mobile money sector. Increased interoperability and pricing pressure from Airtel Money are pushing consumers to explore alternatives. The potential introduction of CBK's Fast Payment System (FPS) could further level the playing field by making instant, cross-platform transactions easier. While M-PESA remains the dominant player, the landscape is shifting, and Safaricom will need to adapt to maintain its lead in a rapidly evolving market.

Read the original article on Daba Finance.

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