#6: Safaricom - How Kenya’s largest telco drove M-Pesa to become the most successful mobile financial platform in Africa

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Safaricom - The largest telecom carrier in Kenya. We’ll discuss its early history, M-Pesa launch, M-Pesa success, attempted M-Pesa global expansion & Safaricom's future outlook   Companies discussed: Safaricom, Vodacom, Vodafone, Telkom, MTN & M-Kopa   Business concepts discussed: Unbanked population, Financial inclusion, Mobile money, Payment platforms, government regulation, global expansion, telco competition, state-owned companies & product launch timing   Conversation highlights: (00:36) - Kenya context and contrast with other major African countries (01:10) - Safaricom history and ownership structure (03:53) - Safaricom financials and market share (06:58) - M-Pesa background (08:27) - How M-Pesa works (09:45) - M-Pesa ownership - Safaricom, Vodafone and Vodacom (10:15) - How M-Pesa become successful in Kenya (13:50) - M-Pesa’s international expansion (21:20) - M-Pesa in India (24:50) - Safaricom’s other products (Home Internet, M-Kopa solar, Ridesharing, etc) (34:05) - Bankole’s thoughts and overall outlook (37:02) - Olumide’s thoughts and overall outlook (41:17) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins (45:42) - Olumide’s recommendations and small wins   Olumide’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Angel (by Jason Calacanis) Recommendation: Angel Investing (by David Rose) Small win: Link to Text Fragment (Chrome extension)   Bankole’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution Small win: Roam Research   We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email [email protected]   Join our mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com