This article is based on a conversation from Voices & Visions, a podcast produced through a partnership between Tutto Passa Agency and TechCabal, which explores the people and ideas shaping Africa’s innovation economy.
The first problem M-PESA, the mobile money service owned by telco giant Safaricom, solved was moving money. The company now believes the harder one is lending.
Nearly two decades after transforming how Kenyans pay, save, and transfer money, Safaricom is turning its attention to a credit market where banks are reluctant to lend beyond established borrowers, pushing millions of small businesses and households to expensive digital loans and shylocks.
“There is pain. There is real pain,” says Peter Gichangi, Safaricom’s head of Super Apps, in a recorded conversation on Voices & Visions, a podcast backed by Tutto Passa Agency and TechCabal. “If there are people interested in partnering with us, from Europe or wherever it is, to provide accessible, affordable credit in the market, we are open to having those discussions.”
Originally published by TechCabal.