Safaricom has announced a major upgrade to its flagship mobile money platform, M-PESA, backed by a $300 million (Ksh40 billion) investment. The project—dubbed M-PESA 2.0—aims to significantly improve system stability, expand transaction capacity, and enhance user experience across Africa.
Safaricom Group CEO Peter Ndengwa described the upgrade as “the next big leap” in M-PESA’s evolution, promising zero downtime for customers once fully implemented. He underscored the company’s commitment to safety and cybersecurity, highlighting ongoing efforts to stay ahead of fraudsters and cyber threats. “We’ve put strong guardrails in place, and ethical hackers are constantly testing our systems. We’re building resilience so customers can trust our services every day,” Ndengwa said.
The announcement comes as M-PESA celebrates its 18th anniversary. Since launching in 2007, the platform has grown into Africa’s most successful fintech solution, with over 70 million users in more than 170 countries. It supports over one million businesses and agents across key markets, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, and Egypt.
M-PESA currently handles around 100 million transactions daily, with a processing capacity of 4,000 transactions per second. Its open API platform, Daraja, supports over 55,000 integrations and is home to more than 100,000 developers, fostering a vibrant innovation ecosystem.
The M-PESA 2.0 upgrade is designed to scale the platform for future growth, support the rollout of new digital services, and ensure continued reliability in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
Source: Extensia
