- Total revenue, inclusive of voice, message and mobile data services was Sh4.8 billion, a 73.8 per cent increase from the revenue posted in six months of the FY.
- Voice revenue hit Sh678 million while messaging and mobile data recorded revenues of Sh28.2 million and Sh2.5 billion, respectively.
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Safaricom’s M-Pesa Ethiopia operations recorded Sh44.9 million in revenue for the nine months to December 2023.
This accounts for the four months it has been operational since its switch on in August. and as at September 2023, the venture had earned the telco Sh7.2 million.
Registered M-Pesa customers rose to 3.1 million, from 1.2 million as at mid 2023/2024 financial year with transactions standing at Sh18.5 billion.
According to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the opportunity for M-Pesa in the over 119 million populous nation remains untapped, given the low levels of financial inclusion.
The lender says the percentage of adult population with an account at a financial institution stood at 45 per cent in 2020.
Ethiopia’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2021–2025, aims to increase those enjoying any form of banking services from the current 45 to 70 per cent of all adults by 2025, in part by scaling digital payments through mobile money services.
The country also aims to increase the use of digital payments from 20 per cent of all adults in 2020 to 49 per cent by 2025.
Based on these figures, Safaricom says the landscape presents the opportunity for M-Pesa to drive financial inclusion to levels seen in Kenya after over 20 years of operations in the country, to over 84 per cent in 2021 from 27 per cent in 2006.
In the period under review, the total revenue, inclusive of voice, message and mobile data services was Sh4.8 billion, a 73.8 per cent increase from the revenue posted in six months of the financial year.
Voice revenue hit Sh678 million while messaging and mobile data recorded revenues of Sh28.2 million and Sh2.5 billion, respectively.
Mobile data segment, which commanded the revenue provision, recorded 1.81 million of one-month active mobile data customers.
This is an increase from the numbers posted in quarter two and one of 1.4 and 1.2, respectively.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the telco has made significant progress in expanding the network rollout in Ethiopia with M-Pesa's growth enjoying great momentum.
“Our purpose in Ethiopia is to transform lives for a digital future and our vision is to establish an innovative brand loved by its customers. We are building a world-class network focused on earning customer loyalty and are experimenting and learning from the lessons and challenges as the business evolves to create a digital future for our customers,” Ndegwa said.
He said since the launch of commercial operations in Ethiopia in October 2022, the momentum has remained positive, having recorded nine million gross customer additions and attained 4.3 million 90-day active customers as at December 2023.”
Ndegwa said Safaricom has covered 33 per cent of the population and are on track to meet all license coverage obligations.
Safaricom M-Pesa was launched in Ethiopia with services on deposits, withdrawals, transfers (P2P), airtime and data package purchase, M-PESA to Bank (C2B) and Bank to M-PESA (B2C), merchant payments (with transacting tills) and international money remittances services (inbound transfers only).
The telco now says other services will follow as it continues to enhance customer education and awareness.
“We are very pleased with the optimism that M-PESA has evoked in the youthful population of Ethiopia, and we look forward with great excitement to the transformation M-PESA will bring to financial inclusion in Ethiopia,” it said in a statement.