M-KOPA Reaches 10 Million Customers in Africa

M-KOPA has reached 10 million customers across Africa, marking a major milestone for the pan-African fintech as it continues to expand its asset financing and digital financial services business. The company has added 9 million customers in the six years since reaching its first one million users in 2020 and is currently onboarding approximately 10,000 new customers each day across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. M-KOPA attributed the growth to its "More than a Phone" platform, which combines smartphone financing with embedded financial services, including insurance, credit, and device protection. The offering is designed for informal sector workers and other customers with irregular income streams. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jesse Moore (𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸) said the milestone demonstrates that financial products tailored to the earning patterns of everyday workers can scale successfully, enabling greater access to credit for underserved consumers. The company's expansion has also been supported by investments in local manufacturing and distribution, including the establishment of Kenya's largest smartphone assembly facility in 2023 and a sales network of more than 40,000 agents across its markets. M-KOPA said its revenue has grown by an average of 50% annually since 2020. The company has also been included in the Financial Times' Africa's Fastest Growing Companies ranking for five consecutive years. #MKOPA #FinancialInclusion #Africa #Fintech #Kenya #Uganda #Nigeria #Ghana #SouthAfrica

M-KOPA Sometimes the most important product decision is not only what you sell. It is how customers can realistically access it - and what that access ultimately costs them. M-KOPA offers an interesting case for founders to examine. The pan-African fintech serves what it calls “Every Day Earners” - people such as traders, riders and small-business owners whose income may arrive daily rather than through a conventional monthly salary. Its model begins with smartphone financing through smaller repayments structured around those income patterns. According to M-KOPA, customers who establish a repayment history may become eligible for additional financial services, subject to its terms. In July 2026, the company announced that it had reached 10 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. But scale alone does not make a business model successful for every stakeholder. Smartphone-financing models have also faced important questions about total repayment costs, transparency and consumer protection. Flexible payments may make a product immediately accessible, but accessibility and long-term affordability are not necessarily the same. That tension provides a broader lesson for founders. Designing around customer reality should influence the product, pricing, payment structure, distribution and relationship over time. It should also include clear terms, responsible pricing and an honest assessment of the total value delivered to the customer. Localisation is not always about changing language or branding. Sometimes the deeper opportunity is redesigning how the business works - without losing sight of affordability, transparency and customer wellbeing. For founders entering markets with different customer behaviours or economic realities, how would you balance wider access with responsible pricing? #FounderSpan #BusinessModel #CustomerInsight

Pan-African fintech M-KOPA has reached 10 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, marking a milestone that reflects how quickly smartphone financing has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing financial products. The company said it took eight years to reach its first one million customers after launching in 2012 as a solar financing business. Since expanding into smartphone financing in 2020, however, it has added another nine million customers in just six years, a pace that illustrates both the scale of demand for device financing and the broader shift in how millions of Africans access credit. For Nigeria, the milestone carries additional significance. M-KOPA said the country became the fastest market in its history to cross one million customers, highlighting how quickly its financing model has gained traction in Africa’s largest economy. https://lnkd.in/ezisbW8f

Today morning I have been perusing what is happening across the continent around devices, and honestly the signals are becoming harder to ignore. Africa’s Next Fintech Opportunity May Be Sitting in Our Hands. M-KOPA has now crossed 10 million customers across African markets. Watu Credit Uganda has passed 1 million financed devices. PAYGo models are no longer just about solar — they’re rapidly expanding into smartphones. At the same time, device-locking technology is quietly becoming part of the credit-risk infrastructure. And with smartphone prices still out of reach for many people, financing is increasingly becoming the bridge between connectivity and affordability. Having been an early pioneer of the Device Lifecycle Management (DLM) model in in Kenya , I’ve seen first-hand that the real opportunity is not just in financing the purchase of a smartphone. It’s everything that comes after. The real value is in building the ecosystem around the full life of the device — from acquisition and financing, to protection, repair, recovery, trade-in, and eventually replacement. The smartphone is no longer just a communication tool. For millions of Africans, it’s a financial identity, a workplace, a payment terminal, a marketplace, and a gateway into the digital economy. That shift raises an important question for banks, telcos, insurers, fintechs, OEMs, and investors: Who is going to build the infrastructure powering Africa’s next 100 million financed, protected, and connected devices? To me, the next chapter of Africa’s device economy will sit right at the intersection of finance, technology, insurance, and lifecycle management. And we’re only just getting started. What part of this ecosystem do you think will unlock the biggest opportunity first ; financing, protection, or the secondary device market? #Africa #DeviceFinancing #DeviceLifecycleManagement #Fintech #Insurtech #EmbeddedFinance #DeviceEconomy #FinancialInclusion DOAGE ADVISORY

If M-PESA Africa was launched today, would it succeed on technology alone? No. That's the question IPP Wacera Maina, Chief Operations Officer at Kenswitch (Kenya), posed at Digital PayExpo 2026 — and it set up the core message of her keynote: innovation creates breakthroughs, but collaboration is what scales them. Here's what stood out: The Connector’s View Kenswitch isn’t a bank, wallet, or telco, yet it connects over 70% of Kenya’s market—driving seamless interoperability across SACCOs, microfinance institutions, banks, and mobile money operators. That neutral vantage point offers a unique perspective on where money flows smoothly, where it stalls, and where friction remains. Collaboration in Action Across the Continent Maina highlighted several key success stories: the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC (NIBSS) as one of the world's largest real-time payment systems, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) enabling instant interbank transfers, and Tanzania’s pioneering mobile money interoperability. She also pointed to progress across Rwanda, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Drawing on 19 years in banking and fintech—including nearly a decade at Cellulant, now active across 16 African markets—her core takeaway was simple: sustained success in payments, sports, or any complex ecosystem requires every player to know their role, trust the system, and execute toward a shared objective. The Challenge to the Room She closed by putting four direct questions to every stakeholder in the ecosystem: - Regulators: Are you enabling cross-border collaboration or reinforcing national fragmentation? - Banks: Are you willing to open shared infrastructure while still competing for end-customers? - Fintechs: Are you designing for interoperability, or simply building high-walled, closed systems? - Investors: Are you funding isolated products, or backing scalable ecosystems? Her closing line captured the whole theme: "We create, we connect, then we collaborate." That's the exact spirit behind what happens in the room built for the people ready to build those connections — the 2027 Deal Room. Seats are limited. Early access closes as spots fill. To apply for Deal Room access, sponsorship, or priority entry, click: 👉:https://lnkd.in/eQv-SFUv #FintechAfrica #DigitalPayments #Kenswitch #PanAfricanFintech #DealRoom #SeamlessDigital

Tembo, a Tanzanian fintech, has secured a Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence in Rwanda, marking another milestone in its regional expansion across Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa. The licence enables the company to provide regulated payment services in one of Africa's fastest-growing digital economies. Co-founder Reuben Mwatosya said Rwanda's forward-looking fintech regulations and commitment to digital transformation make it an ideal market for Tembo's expansion. The company aims to support businesses across Rwanda, East Africa, and the wider continent with reliable and scalable payment infrastructure. With this approval, Tembo joins Rwanda's growing fintech ecosystem alongside providers such as Paystack, Irembo, NALA, and AzamPay, further strengthening competition and innovation in the country's digital payments sector. Visit: https://lnkd.in/dEn-vBic #Fintech #Rwanda #Tembo #DigitalPayments #PaymentServiceProvider #AfricanStartups #StartupNews #Innovation #FintechAfrica #AfricaStartupMagazine

𝐑𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚–𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 💳🌍 Rwanda and Kenya have signed a new fintech licensing passport framework designed to make cross-border expansion easier for fintech companies and payment service providers. Previously, companies expanding across African markets often had to repeat licensing and compliance processes in every country, increasing costs and delaying market entry. The new framework allows a fintech licensed in one participating country to operate in another through a simplified approval process. The agreement could help smaller fintechs scale faster, reduce operational barriers, and support the growth of cross-border digital payments. The initiative also builds on Rwanda’s similar agreement with Ghana, creating a wider pathway toward digital financial integration across African markets. Stronger financial connectivity can make it easier for African businesses to expand beyond their domestic markets. #Rwanda #Kenya #Fintech #DigitalPayments #AfricanBusiness #Technology #Investment #AfCFTA #FinancialInclusion #TheAfricanDreams

Our Managing Director, Mr. Evode Rusagara, joined industry leaders last week to reflect on “The Next Decade of Fintech.” His remarks centered on Uganda’s opportunity to accelerate digital finance adoption by learning from more mature markets. 🔑 Opportunities for Uganda ·        National Switch integration: Building a central instant payment system to connect banks, mobile money, and FinTechs seamlessly. ·        Shared agent networks: Expanding access through collaborative infrastructure, especially in rural areas. ·        Consumer trust frameworks: Strengthening dispute resolution and transparency to build confidence in digital payments. ⚠️ Mistakes to Avoid ·        Fragmented incentives: Experience shows that if large players resist interoperability, adoption stalls. ·        Regulatory uncertainty: Clear, predictable rules are essential to attract investment and innovation. ·        Overreliance on single providers: Heavy dependence on one dominant player highlights systemic risk. Uganda must encourage multi‑player participation. 💡 His closing thought: Uganda has made considerable strides with credit aimed at Bank of Uganda, FITSPA, PSPA and other notable contributors, however, Uganda’s FinTech future will be defined by the rails, rules, and trust that make financial services universal. #Etranzact #FinTech #DigitalFinance #FinancialInclusion #AfricaFinTech #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfFinance #PaymentsInnovation

Rwanda’s Fintech Passport: Why It Matters Africa’s fintech sector is expanding rapidly, but cross-border growth remains challenging. Different licensing regimes, regulators and compliance requirements can make entering new markets costly and time-consuming. Rwanda’s fintech passporting frameworks with Ghana and, more recently, Kenya mark an important step towards addressing this challenge. The Kenya initiative initially focuses on Payment Service Providers, while the Ghana framework covers regulated fintechs. The concept is straightforward: a fintech already regulated in one participating market can have a more practical pathway to expanding into another, without having to navigate an entirely new regulatory process from the ground up. Passporting does not create a single African license, nor does it remove local regulatory oversight. Its value lies in reducing unnecessary duplication and creating a more practical route to regional expansion. The implications extend beyond regulatory access. For fintechs, passporting can make cross-border growth easier to plan; for investors, it can strengthen the case for regional business models; and for regulators, it represents another step towards greater financial integration. For Rwanda, this broader shift reinforces its role within Africa’s evolving financial landscape. Its growing financial and corporate ecosystem, combined with stronger regional connectivity, is establishing the country as a practical base for businesses looking to operate and expand across African markets. #Fintech #FintechAfrica #AfricanFintech #DigitalFinance #Rwanda #KIFC #KenyaFintech #UgandaFintech #TanzaniaFintech #EastAfrica #CrossBorderBusiness #RegionalExpansion #DTOS

There's a line in business that separates markets companies "explore" from markets they actually commit to. Terra, a Nigerian fintech that just closed an $18 million funding round, appears to have put Ghana firmly in the second category — opening a facility here alongside a London office as part of their expansion. That's worth paying attention to. Ghana's digital payments ecosystem has matured considerably over the last few years. Mobile money penetration is high, merchant adoption is growing, and financial institutions are competing more seriously on digital rails. But the infrastructure still has gaps — cross-border payments remain expensive and slow, and SME access to financial tools lags behind what the market needs. A well-funded entrant like Terra signals one of two things: either they've identified a specific gap in the market that existing players haven't filled well, or they're betting that Ghana's growth trajectory justifies a land-grab play now before the market consolidates further. Either way, the incumbents — and there are serious ones here — will need to respond. What's not straightforward is the regulatory path. The Bank of Ghana has been deliberate about who it lets operate in the payments space, and for good reason. Terra will have to earn its position here the same way everyone else did. For businesses and consumers, more competition in fintech almost always translates to better pricing and faster innovation. That's the upside worth watching. I've put together a breakdown of what this move means for the broader West Africa payments landscape — link in the first comment. What's your read: does Ghana need more fintech entrants, or do we need the existing players to go deeper first? #jbklutse #ghanafintech #africafintech #startupfunding #westafricapayments