Attempts to Write-off Africa at Our Achievements

On 09.18.09, In General, by Dr. Charm

This is not the kind of mood one likes to wake up with but I read an article yesterday by Olga Morawczynski (Whose page at CGAP gives a 404 page maybe for a good reason) which she wrote for CGAP trying to tell us what we don’t know about M-Pesa, Kenya’s mobile money transfer. I [...]

M-Pesa is what it is today because of Safaricom and its subscribers, the Kenyan People

This is not the kind of mood one likes to wake up with but I read an article yesterday by Olga Morawczynski (Whose page at CGAP gives a 404 page maybe for a good reason) which she wrote for CGAP trying to tell us what we don’t know about M-Pesa, Kenya’s mobile money transfer. I feel obliged to say that his research (If any) is biased. Her findings are inaccurate and his theories incorrect. This article was published in July which means nothing much has changed since then.

I am here to talk about the role of Safaricom, the Kenyan citizen and the unseen push to the success of M-Pesa. Am here at the perception you have put up and the mentality you have created that M-Pesa is only for poor people. I may not be rich but am not poor. I am one of the millions of people using M-Pesa. I feel the racial divide here. If this product was implemented anywhere else in the world, it would have worked just as well, because its a great product. Because its an innovative product. In CGAP’s article base, there seems to be a big percentage on M-Pesa but most of it coming out as a poor man’s solution. I want to put out a few points here.

Safaricom’s role in M-Pesa was vital. Maybe because no one else believe in the idea enough to try it on their platform. If we go by Olga’s findings or insinuations, seems like Safaricom and the Kenyan people were being used as an experimental pad, we took all the crap and when there was success, here comes Europe trying to show how the success was theirs. Well, no one disputes the fact that they did a good thing, but we did too. I feel part of the M-Pesa success as a user – and it has been of great help to me. I feel insulted by this article, I feel downtrodden. Maybe I should ask how much money one has to pay to get an article published at CGAP on them – I guess the answer might be am from the poor Africa I cant afford.
Kenya was right for the product: The same product has been launched in Tanzania by Vodacom and almost a year later, its still to get off the ground. It maybe the people’s reception to the idea or the company’s marketing strategy for the product. Mobile money transfer in Tanzania has many players with 3 different competitors but its not as popular as it is in Kenya.
The European companies that came up with the idea to use Kenya as a testing pad for M-Pesa had just designed it as a Micro finance loan repayment solution. Kenyans made it a money transfer platform. Safaricom and Kenyans played the role of making them believe that it could grow as big.
M-Pesa has been beneficial to Kenyans of all classes, not only the poor as stated in his article.
M-Pesa was really popular in Kenya way before the post-election violence, so that did not play the major role described in one of your articles

In conclusion, I think this writer owes Kenyans and Safaricom an apology. Am sure she will get a glimpse of this article and I hope she does the right thing or responds to this article with his view. Africans have been over the years been used as research pads and its unfair, its time you took us for what we are.

Dr. Charm

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2 Responses

bernard mwagiru

09.18.09

Olga’s article only served to appraise the people behind the scenes prior to the launch of M-Pesa at Safaricom. Credit to Mpesa’s success should be given to Kenyans affinity towards embracing new technology, and not solely to Safaricom.The same concept has not taken off well in TZ mainly because of their laid back nature towards anything foreign/new….