M-Pesa, the widely used mobile money service operated by Safaricom, has partnered with Ethiopian fintech startup LakiPay Financial Technologies in a move aimed at strengthening digital payments in Ethiopia.
Under the agreement, M-Pesa will integrate with LakiPay’s payment gateway, allowing businesses that use LakiPay to accept payments via the mobile money platform. The partnership is expected to accelerate the adoption of digital financial services in Ethiopia, where cash transactions still dominate.
Safaricom said that by expanding the number of merchants accepting M-Pesa, it aims to enhance customer experience and support Ethiopia’s national digital economy ambitions.
Elsa Muzzolini, chief executive of Safaricom M-Pesa Mobile Financial Services, underscored the company’s broader goal of advancing financial inclusion.
“This partnership with LakiPay strengthens our efforts to drive financial inclusion and digital transformation in Ethiopia by providing more options for seamless transactions,” she said.
Habtamu Tadesse, founder and chief executive of LakiPay, said the collaboration would make mobile payments more accessible for businesses.
“This partnership is a testament to our shared vision of making digital transactions more accessible and reliable for businesses and consumers alike,” he said.
M-Pesa officially launched in Ethiopia in August 2023, just months after Safaricom Ethiopia secured a Payment Instrument Issuer license from the National Bank of Ethiopia. Since then, the service has grown rapidly, aided by the country’s increasing adoption of digital finance.
In October 2024, Safaricom extended its M-Pesa Global service to Ethiopia, allowing mobile money transfers between Kenya and Ethiopia. The company positioned the expansion as a way to boost economic activity and financial inclusion across the region.
The number of M-Pesa users in Ethiopia surged from 3.1 million in December 2023 to 10.8 million by the end of 2024, fueled by a growing demand for airtime and data purchases, as well as the launch of cross-border money transfer services.
“We have so far registered 10.8 million M-Pesa customers as of the end of December 2024, cumulative since inception. We are continuously assessing suitable use cases to drive higher usage,” Safaricom said in a recent update.
Safaricom, a unit of Kenya’s Vodacom and South Africa’s Vodafone, became the first foreign telecom operator to enter Ethiopia’s market in 2022. It launched its network in the eastern city of Dire Dawa before expanding nationwide, including to the capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, remains a major market for mobile money expansion, particularly as the government pushes for broader digital financial inclusion. The partnership with LakiPay signals M-Pesa’s deepening commitment to capturing a share of the country’s mobile payments ecosystem.
