Financials, FY2020, Safaricom, M-pesa, Mobile money, Africa Kenyan telco Safaricom has posted a 19.5 per cent jump in full year profits to $747 million, with revenues being spurred on by the company’s acquisition of the M-Pesa mobile money platform from Vodafone.
During the financial year for 2020 (FY2020) Safaricom’s M-Pesa derived revenues grew by 12 .6 per cent to $844 million, buoying the company’s bottom line.
"The results reflect the commitment this customer centricity approach, with a steady growth in service revenue while mobile data is now back to double digit growth," Safaricom’s outgoing chief executive, Michael Joseph, told reporters from The East African newspaper.
“I am proud of what the team has been able to deliver despite such a tough business year. We have stayed the course, given customers more value, and put the consumer first by delivering relevant products and services.”
Earlier this month, Safaricom agreed a deal to connect M-Pesa to Visa’s global financial network. The deal will see M-Pesa’s 24 million users be able to make and receive payments to and from over 3 billion visa cards across the world.
“This has been the missing link to integrate M-Pesa into the global payments system,” a Safaricom source told journalists from Reuters.
M-Pesa users in Africa will now be able to use the service as if it were a virtual visa linked debit card, allowing them to transfer money and make payments even whilst they are abroad.
Safaricom and pan-African firm Vodacom completed the acquisition of the M-Pesa mobile payment platform from Vodafone in April.
