M-KOPA – Tech | Business | Economy https://techeconomy.ng Tech | Business | Economy Sat, 09 May 2026 16:50:05 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://techeconomy.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-256Px-32x32.png M-KOPA – Tech | Business | Economy https://techeconomy.ng 32 32 Why Innovation is Now the Price of Staying in Business https://techeconomy.ng/why-innovation-is-now-the-price-of-staying-in-business/ https://techeconomy.ng/why-innovation-is-now-the-price-of-staying-in-business/#respond Mon, 11 May 2026 07:30:26 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=181346 There is a hard truth many African business owners are slowly accepting: doing business the old way is no longer just inefficient but dangerous. Markets shift overnight.

Customers are better informed than ever. Technology is dismantling entire industries before incumbents can react. And serious competitors are emerging from places nobody anticipated.

In this environment, survival no longer belongs to the biggest or the oldest. It belongs to those willing to innovate consistently, deliberately, and early.

Innovation Helps Businesses Solve Real Problems Faster

At its core, innovation is simply finding better ways to solve problems. Businesses that embrace it ask relentless questions: How can we serve customers faster? How can we cut waste?

How can we make our product easier to access? That problem-solving mindset creates advantages that competitors struggle to close.

Flutterwave offers a compelling example. Before fintech companies gained serious traction across Africa, cross-border payments were a genuine obstacle for businesses and individuals alike.

Flutterwave built a seamless solution around that pain point and grew into one of the continent’s most recognised technology companies as a result.

The lesson applies just as clearly to smaller businesses. A local fashion brand using WhatsApp automation, mobile payments, or same-day delivery is already innovating, and the results typically show in both customer satisfaction and revenue.

Customers Gravitate Naturally Toward Better Experiences

Customers may not always understand the technology behind a product, but they understand convenience. Innovation-driven businesses build experiences that remove friction from people’s lives, and once customers find that ease, they rarely retreat to the alternative.

Consider how ride-hailing platforms transformed urban transport across many African cities. Before services like Bolt and Uber scaled across the continent, getting reliable transportation often involved uncertainty and price haggling.

These platforms introduced real-time tracking, digital payments, transparent pricing, and safety features. The experience was simply better, and the market responded.

This is why traditional businesses face mounting pressure. Customers now benchmark every experience against the best experience they have had anywhere. If your service feels slow or outdated, they will notice, and they will leave.

Innovation Improves Efficiency and Reduces Costs

Many African businesses bleed money through inefficiency without ever identifying the source. Poor record-keeping, manual operations, outdated systems, and preventable delays quietly erode profits every quarter. Innovation addresses this directly.

A supermarket that implements inventory management software reduces losses from expired stock. A logistics company using route optimisation cuts fuel expenditure.

A farm deploying digital tools for weather monitoring and supply tracking improves yield without expanding its cost base. These are not dramatic technological leaps but practical improvements that compound over time.

This operational edge is one of the core reasons innovation-driven businesses tend to outperform competitors financially. They waste less, decide faster, and run leaner.

Innovative Businesses Attract Better Talent and Partnerships

Skilled professionals want to work where ideas are valued. Investors gravitate toward businesses that are adaptable and forward-thinking.

When a business builds a culture of innovation, it becomes a magnet for the people and partnerships that accelerate growth.

M-KOPA illustrates this well. By creating a flexible financing model that gives underserved Africans access to smartphones and clean energy products, M-KOPA unlocked a customer base that traditional financial systems had long ignored. That innovative approach attracted both talent and capital, and created durable competitive positioning in the process. Businesses that innovate signal to the market that they are building for the future, not managing the present.

Innovation is Not Only for Large Companies

One of the most persistent and damaging misconceptions is that innovation requires significant capital. It does not.

Some of the most effective innovations in Africa are simple: using social media to reach customers directly, accepting digital payments, automating support responses, offering subscription-based pricing, or using basic data to understand buying behaviour.

Innovation begins as a mindset long before it becomes a budget line. A small business owner who listens carefully to customers and improves consistently has a stronger competitive foundation than a larger company paralysed by legacy habits.

The Businesses That Will Lead Africa’s Future

Africa is entering a defining economic moment. A young population, growing internet penetration, expanding digital infrastructure, and surging entrepreneurial energy are creating conditions that reward agility and punish complacency.

The businesses that lead will not necessarily be the oldest or the loudest brands. They will be the ones that keep evolving, staying close to customer needs, responding quickly to change, operating efficiently, and creating experiences worth returning to. In today’s market, innovation is not a competitive advantage. It is the admission price.

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Wimbart Marks 10 Years as Leading Tech Startup-Focused PR Firm https://techeconomy.ng/wimbart-marks-10-years-as-leading-tech-startup-focused-pr-firm/ https://techeconomy.ng/wimbart-marks-10-years-as-leading-tech-startup-focused-pr-firm/#respond Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:29:35 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=179195 Award-winning Public Relations firm, Wimbart, marks its 10-year anniversary, celebrating a decade of delivering strategic communications services to African tech companies and ecosystem players.

Launched in 2016 by IROKO alumnus Jessica Hope, the communications consultancy has become the go-to B2B PR partner for startups, scale-ups, venture capital firms and institutional organisations looking to reach African and international audiences.

Over the past decade, the 15-strong team, located across London and Lagos, has advised some of the continent’s most recognisable tech companies and investors, including M-KOPA, Andela, MaxAB and Ventures Platform, helping shape communications around pivotal moments such as major funding rounds, product launches, crises, acquisitions and market expansions. 

Reinforcing its position as a leading storyteller in the tech ecosystem, in 2025, Wimbart launched The Wimbart Way – a podcast of deep-dive interviews with leading African tech space operators, investors, founders and journalists including Omobola Johnson, Iyin Aboyeji and Tomiwa Aladekomo, who each look at different aspects of the intersection of media and African tech storytelling.

The consultancy’s growth has mirrored the rapid rise of Africa’s technology sector. Since 2015, startups across the continent have raised over $20 billion, produced globally recognised unicorns and attracted increasing international investment.

Over the past decade, Wimbart has worked with 230+ clients across nearly 20 countries, including its key markets, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt. In February 2016, the company expanded with the launch of Wimbart Lite, led by founding team member Maria Adediran, to provide communications support for early-stage startups.

Jessica Hope, Founder and CEO of Wimbart, says:

“We’ve had the pleasure of working alongside elite founders and investors building the continent’s tech ecosystem, and telling their stories globally, via hundreds of press releases and thousands of articles and interviews over the past decade.

Wimbart Investor Report
Jessica Hope, founder and CEO at Wimbart

“What has consistently defined us is simple; our energy, ambition and intensity matches our clients’. Passion underscores everything we do, but is coupled with PR technical skill and a nose for what makes a great story. Wimbart only works because the people building Africa’s tech ecosystem have continuously trusted us to tell their stories, and backed us to do it right.”

A short film marking Wimbart’s 10 year anniversary, featuring those who have helped shape the company – African tech leading ecosystem partners, clients and the Wimbart team [past and present] – can be found here.

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M-KOPA Hits 3 million Active Customers Milestone https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-hits-3-million-active-customers-milestone/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-hits-3-million-active-customers-milestone/#respond Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:55:13 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=167815 M-KOPA, Africa’s leading inclusive fintech, has surpassed 3 million active customers for the first time – a milestone that puts the company on track to serve 10 million Every Day Earners by the end of the decade.

The company’s 2025 Impact Report reveals that 9 out of 10 active customers now say M-KOPA has improved their lives, up from 8 out of 10 last year.

Since 2011, M-KOPA has reached 7 million total customers and deployed over $2 billion in credit to hardworking micro-entrepreneurs in the informal sector who are typically locked out by traditional financial services.

“What matters most to us is how many people we’re actively serving every day, those who stay engaged with us over time. Our active customer number reached 3 million for the first time this year,” said Jesse Moore, Co-Founder & CEO of M-KOPA. “When we ask customers,’ does M-KOPA make your life better?’ 9 out of 10 say yes. That’s tangible and meaningful impact on millions of lives.”

M-KOPA serves Every Day Earners – people who make their income daily in Africa’s vast informal sector but remain unseen by conventional financial services designed for salaried workers.

The company addresses a critical gap in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of the population has internet coverage, but only 27% can afford to access it.

Since 2020, M-KOPA has enabled 2.5 million first-time smartphone users, with 81% of women customers reporting they couldn’t afford a smartphone without M-KOPA.

For 55% of customers, M-KOPA represents their first access to any formal financial product, while 67% are accessing health insurance for the first time.

Through its “More than a Phone” platform, 70% of customers use their M-KOPA smartphone to generate income and 59% report higher earnings since ownership.

M-KOPA’s approach operates across five interconnected pillars that scale individual inclusion into community transformation:

  • Included: 55% accessing their first formal financial product; $2 billion deployed to over 7 million everyday earners
  • Connected: 5 million first-time smartphone users since 2020; 40% first-time smartphone users in 2025, demonstrating that affordable access remains critical
  • Prosperous: 70% use smartphones for income generation; 59% report higher earnings since ownership
  • Sustainable: 4,000+ electric motorbikes financed, & 127,700 circular economy products resulting in 46,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided
  • Local Markets: Over 35,000 agents (17% growth), with 57% reporting M-KOPA as their first income opportunity

In 2024, M-KOPA’s local procurement spend totalled $236 million across all markets. Women represent 45% of M-KOPA’s agent network and 40% of all customers, with 86% reporting improved quality of life.

M-KOPA operates across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, and employs over 2,000 full-time staff and 35,000 sales agents across the continent.

The company has been recognized by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies for four consecutive years and by CNBC as one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies 2025.

Click here to read the full M-KOPA Impact Report 2025

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M-KOPA Named to CNBC’s 2025 List of the World’s Top Fintech Companies https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-named-to-cnbcs-2025-list-of-the-worlds-top-fintech-companies/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-named-to-cnbcs-2025-list-of-the-worlds-top-fintech-companies/#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:18:36 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=163198 M-KOPA, a trailblazing fintech serving emerging markets, has been named one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies for 2025 by CNBC, marking another major milestone as it surpasses $2 billion in credit disbursed to more than 7 million customers across Africa.

The recognition places M-KOPA among 300 global fintech leaders, with the company selected in the ‘Alternative Financing’ category, reserved for innovators delivering digital credit and funding solutions in new, inclusive ways.

Redefining Access to Finance in Emerging Markets

Unlike traditional financial institutions, M-KOPA has built a model that meets people where they are, using embedded smartphone technology and a flexible pay-as-you-go model to reach the financially excluded. Its devices don’t just provide internet access; they come bundled with affordable credit, health insurance, and device protection, empowering millions to access essential services and economic opportunities.

Through its Smart Money platform, M-KOPA is onboarding more than 200,000 customers per month and processing over 15 payments per second.

With over a decade’s worth of payment data and AI-powered credit analytics, the company has created rich credit histories for customers previously invisible to traditional banks.

“Surpassing $2 billion in credit and being named one of the world’s top fintechs by CNBC is a powerful validation of what we’ve built,” said Jesse Moore, CEO and co-founder of M-KOPA.
“It signals a turning point, not just for us, but for how the world views sustainable growth and financial inclusion in emerging markets.”

Building Africa’s Largest Direct Sales Network

M-KOPA’s reach is driven by its 35,000-strong direct sales force, active across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. While smartphones remain its flagship product, the company has already expanded into electric motorbike financing, proving the adaptability and scale of its inclusive financial model.

Positioned for the Future of Fintech

M-KOPA’s recognition comes amid a broader shift in the global fintech landscape. According to a 2025 World Economic Forum report, fintech revenues are projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, with much of that growth expected to come from emerging markets.

Meanwhile, more than 1.4 billion adults globally still lack access to basic financial services, highlighting the urgency and opportunity for innovative fintechs like M-KOPA.

As M-KOPA continues to scale across Africa and beyond, it stands as a powerful example of how technology, data, and design thinking can come together to unlock real, lasting financial inclusion at scale.

🔗 Read the full CNBC list here: World’s Top Fintech Companies 2025

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FT: M-KOPA Rated among Fastest Growing Companies in Africa Four Years in a Row https://techeconomy.ng/ft-m-kopa-rated-among-fastest-growing-companies-in-africa/ https://techeconomy.ng/ft-m-kopa-rated-among-fastest-growing-companies-in-africa/#respond Fri, 16 May 2025 08:31:42 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=158821 M-KOPA, the pan African fintech company, has made the Financial Times’ “Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies” rankings for the fourth consecutive year. 

M-KOPA achieved an impressive CAGR of 42% for the 2020-23 period. The company has accelerated even faster since 2023, delivering over 65% year-over-year revenue growth in 2024.

The firm is continuing on the same profitable growth path in 2025 and is trending to surpass half a billion USD in annual revenue this year.

As fintech continues to scale across the African continent, M-KOPA exemplifies how purpose-driven businesses with sound fundamentals can be both profitable and impactful by serving traditionally overlooked “unbanked” consumers.

The company continues to be laser focused on financing progress for non-salaried every day earners, of which there will be over 1 billion adults across Africa by 2040.

M-KOPA finances smartphones to everyday earners (with more than half its customers accessing the internet for the first time) and then delivers tailored mobile financial services through the device. M-KOPA’s smart money platform has now issued millions of affordable credit, insurance, and subscription products. Its positive impact is independently measured by third party verification experts with the results published annually on the website. 

In 2023, M-KOPA opened East Africa’s first and largest smartphone assembly factory, which is now producing over 1m smartphones annually and has created over 300 new jobs.

In 2024, the firm then introduced its own range of branded smartphones which now account for over 20% of all smartphones sold in Kenya. In 2025, the company has continued its pan African expansion and now acquires more customers outside of Kenya than in, with fast customer growth across Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa.

Commenting on the recognition, Jesse Moore, CEO and co-founder of M-KOPA said:

“We are thrilled to make the FT Fastest Growing Companies in Africa list for the 4th year in a row. Our growth continues to accelerate, and we now onboard a new customer to M-KOPA every 9 seconds. Thanks to Africa’s digital payment rails, we now receive 15 payments per second, which in turn creates a unique and deep dataset to understand the financial needs of everyday earners.  We are still in the early stages of scaling, with an addressable market that will surpass 1 billion people in Africa by 2040.” 

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M-KOPA Eyes $400 Million ARR by Year-End, Drives Rapid Expansion https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-eyes-400-million-arr-by-year-end-drives-rapid-expansion/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-eyes-400-million-arr-by-year-end-drives-rapid-expansion/#comments Thu, 28 Nov 2024 12:25:57 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=148471 African fintech company M-KOPA is thriving to exceed $400 million in annual revenue by the close of the year, up from $248 million in 2023. 

Driving resilience and adaptability in the face of economic challenges such as inflation and currency devaluation across sub-Saharan Africa, M-KOPA operates as a pay-as-you-go asset financing platform.

The company has carved a niche by serving underbanked populations with innovative financial solutions.

Having reached over 5 million customers, the London-based company leverages its unique daily payment model to enable access to smartphones, micro-loans, and other essential products.

Profitability and Expansion

M-KOPA’s success is seen in its profitability across four key African markets—Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana—achieved since last year. It recently expanded into South Africa, now described as its fastest-growing market. 

Mayur Patel, M-KOPA’s chief commercial officer, attributes the revenue growth to pricing adjustments, expansion into higher-value markets with stable currencies, and the addition of one million new customers in just six months.

Even though there are issues with default rates, which stand at approximately 10%, M-KOPA’s long-term strategy remains focused on maintaining stability and profitability. 

According to Patel, financed smartphones are seen as productive assets, playing a huge role in boosting users’ earning potential and participation in the digital economy.

Innovations Driving Growth

A major factor in M-KOPA’s drive is its large distribution network. The fintech has over 30,000 active sales agents, up from just 3,000 four years ago. 

These agents operate within local communities, facilitating access to smartphones and other products while setting up flexible payment plans tailored to customers’ daily incomes.

Added to this, the establishment of a smartphone assembly plant in Nairobi has enhanced sales of the M-KOPA X-Series smartphones, with over 1.5 million units sold since mid-2023. This reveals a shift from the company’s initial focus on solar power systems to more diversified offerings such as electric vehicles.

Driving Financial Inclusion

M-KOPA’s innovative payment model, requiring as little as $25 upfront and daily instalments of around 60 cents, is helping customers build credit histories. 

This approach is particularly impactful in sub-Saharan Africa, where limited access to traditional credit systems leaves many individuals unable to finance essential purchases.

The company also reports economic benefits for its customers using its electric bikes, saving an estimated 30% of their daily income. To date, M-KOPA has deployed $1.5 billion in credit, expanding financial inclusion across Africa.

M-KOPA’s growth has been strengthened by financial backing from investors such as Sumitomo and Standard Bank, having raised $250 million in 2023, primarily in debt financing. 

This year, the company secured an additional $15 million in funding and is one of Africa’s top fintech players by revenue.

Speaking on M-KOPA’s journey, Patel asserted the company’s focus on innovation and efficiency in serving its customers. “Over the last decade, we’ve continually sought to refine our processes, delivering world-class technology alongside robust offline distribution. This balance has been key to scaling our operations and driving value for everyday earners in emerging markets,” he noted.

While driving financial inclusion, M-KOPA is also maintaining profitability, even in challenging economic environments. Surpassing its $400 million revenue target will bolster its impact on the lives of millions across Africa.

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M-KOPA Appoints Former Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri as New Board Chair https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-appoints-former-nokia-ceo-rajeev-suri-as-new-board-chair/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-appoints-former-nokia-ceo-rajeev-suri-as-new-board-chair/#respond Mon, 14 Oct 2024 14:23:13 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=145439 M-KOPA, the Kenyan firm known for providing pay-as-you-go financing solutions for solar systems and smartphones, has named Rajeev Suri as its new board chair, effective 1 December 2024. 

Rajeev Suri, the former CEO of Nokia and Inmarsat, will succeed Elizabeth Littlefield, who has served in the role for the past six years.

Jesse Moore, the CEO and co-founder of M-KOPA, noted that Suri’s broad leadership background and experience with global corporations would be of huge importance as the company prepares for further expansion. “His proven leadership in steering international companies through periods of rapid expansion will be invaluable,” Moore stated.

In his new capacity, Rajeev Suri will drive further growth for M-KOPA, providing oversight and guidance to the leadership team. His wealth of experience from leading positions at global firms, including his current role as chairman of Digicel and board director at Singtel, will help in achieving M-KOPA’s mission, building on its recent successes.

The fintech firm, which provides solar power kits, smartphones, and electric bikes on a financing model, recently hit a milestone of five million users and has disbursed over $1.5 billion in credit across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. 

M-KOPA’s growth has seen rapid customer acquisition, with two million customers added in the past 15 months alone.

Despite its commendable growth, the company is also facing some challenges. In 2023, M-KOPA raised $255 million to support its expansion but now has hefty tax liabilities following a recent ruling by a Kenyan tax tribunal. 

Nonetheless, the company is working to continuously provide financial and digital inclusion for underserved communities.

Suri is glad to join M-KOPA at such a sensitive moment. He acknowledged the firm’s prospects to positively impact financial services in emerging markets. He commended M-KOPA’s innovative use of technology to bridge the financial divide and highlighted its global relevance.

But there’s no success without competition. The company has firms such as D.Light, Sun King, and Aspira, all vying for the same market of low-income consumers. M-KOPA’s focus will likely involve strengthening its offerings and expanding its footprint, especially as it continues to attract investor interest, having secured over $590 million in funding across multiple rounds.

Littlefield, who will remain with the company as an independent board director, has been lauded for her leadership, helping M-KOPA scale up. Suri will now take over, expected to leverage his expertise to push the company forward through the next phase of its development.

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M-KOPA Reaches 5m Customers https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-reaches-5m-customers/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-reaches-5m-customers/#respond Tue, 01 Oct 2024 16:05:36 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=144331 M-KOPA, a leading emerging market fintech, announced that it has surpassed 5 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.

Two million of these customers have come onboard in the past 15 months.

M-KOPA’s innovative model makes affordable smartphones embedded with financial services available to ‘Every Day Earners’: the wide majority of African adults who earn their income daily but struggle to afford smartphones and typically fail to qualify for conventional financial services.

According to the World Bank, 75% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa remain financially excluded.

To date, M-KOPA has supported its customer base with more than US $1.5 billion in financing.

Starting with smartphone access, customers gain entry to the digital economy with an affordable daily repayment model, which fits their daily income and cash flow and makes it easier to manage. By leveraging rich payments data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit record for each customer which forms the foundation for a long-term financial relationship for lower cost digital loans, affordable data subscriptions and medical insurance.

According to M-KOPA co-founder and CEO, Jesse Moore:

“We are thrilled to welcome our 5 millionth customer to M-KOPA this month. The scale of our operations and our positive impact on customers is what keeps us working hard to go even further. We’re just getting started; the opportunity for much larger impact and scale is right in front of us.”

M-KOPA also published its 2024 Impact Report this week, in which the company annually releases its progress against key social and environmental impact metrics.

As with prior reports, the 2024 survey of M-KOPA customers was undertaken by a third-party company – Dalberg Research.

M-KOPA
M-KOPA Impact Report

Key impact highlights from the 2024 report include:

  • 92% confirm that M-KOPA’s financing has made technology more affordable.
  • 80% of customers report an improved quality of life thanks to M-KOPA’s products.
  • 70% credit M-KOPA with helping them achieve their financial goals, demonstrating the company’s contribution to financial empowerment.
  • 62% use their M-KOPA product to generate income

The company is having a major impact in improving digital access in Africa. Nearly 2 million customers are first-time mobile internet users and 40% are women.

M-KOPA also built the first and largest smartphone assembly factory in Kenya – which has produced more than 1m phones locally and further reduced the cost of access.
As with prior reports, M-KOPA’s board and management use the annual impact report to help shape forward company strategy.

Based on this year’s findings, M-KOPA is working to further increase its percentage of female customers to 50%, to reduce its carbon footprint by making circularity central to its smartphone supply chain, and to continue pioneering green products like electric motorbikes that contribute to the health and sustainability of the communities where it operates.

M-KOPA’s Chief Product Officer Nena Sanderson, notes:

“Our product and services build pathways to prosperity for our customers and agents, enabling them to overcome financial setbacks, generate income and progress towards the futures they aspire to. Our impact extends beyond our customers, reaching their families and communities, and contributing to building a more sustainable world.”

Headquartered in London, UK, M-KOPA now creates employment for more than 3,000 staff and 30,000 commission-based sales agents across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.

The company has been recognised by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for the past 3 years, and by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies globally for the past 2 years.

To read the full report, download it here: M-KOPA Impact Report 2024_Pathways To Progress.

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M-KOPA Ordered to Pay $6.8 Million in Taxes After Losing Appeal in Kenya https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-ordered-to-pay-6-8-million-in-taxes-after-losing-appeal-in-kenya/ https://techeconomy.ng/m-kopa-ordered-to-pay-6-8-million-in-taxes-after-losing-appeal-in-kenya/#respond Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:46:22 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=143202 M-KOPA Holdings has been ordered to pay $6.8 million (Ksh 885 million) in taxes to the Kenyan government following a ruling by the Tax Appeals Tribunal. 

The tribunal found that the company, despite being registered in the UK, could not prove that its management and operations were controlled from the United Kingdom, as required under the Kenya-United Kingdom Double Taxation Treaty (DTT).

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) had previously assessed M-KOPA’s tax obligations, including withholding tax and Pay As You Earn (PAYE), from 2017 to 2019, amounting to $6.8 million (Ksh 585 million).

M-KOPA contested this, arguing that since it was incorporated in the UK and claimed to be managed from there, it was not liable to pay taxes in Kenya. However, the tribunal dismissed this assertion, pointing out that the company had failed to provide sufficient evidence to back its claims.

Central to the tribunal’s decision was the determination that M-KOPA’s key business operations and management decisions were largely made within Kenya. 

Despite the company maintaining a registered office in the UK and having most of its directors living outside of Kenya, the tribunal found that the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), and chief commercial officer (CCO) were all based in Kenya. 

The tribunal concluded that this established Kenya as the company’s tax residency, making it liable for income and capital gains tax under Kenyan law.

This ruling could set a guide for other firms in Kenya with similar tax residency arrangements. M-KOPA, which operates in several African markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, offers a range of products, such as solar power systems, smartphones, and electric bikes. 

These are provided through a pay-as-you-go model, where customers make small, incremental payments.

In 2023, the fintech company secured $250 million in debt and equity funding to support its expansion across Africa. However, with this recent tax ruling, M-KOPA may face further investigations over its tax compliance in other jurisdictions where it operates.

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A Critical Review of Hilary Utuke’s Publication  on “Software as a Service” https://techeconomy.ng/a-critical-review-of-hilary-utukes-publication-on-software-as-a-service/ https://techeconomy.ng/a-critical-review-of-hilary-utukes-publication-on-software-as-a-service/#respond Fri, 19 Jul 2024 18:38:56 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=138280 I believe the growth of software applications and operation in Nigeria and Africa at large has been eminent which has been made possible with the creative effort of key personalities.

It’s a pleasure to adjudge Hilary’s article on “Software as a Service” to explore and fill knowledge gaps.

In the grand scheme of things, I have been an ardent  follower of IT trends and evolution, well versed in software development and analytics. My passion has swung me to garnering a wealth of experience in tech having spent more than 11 years in several units including fintech; improving payment infrastructures, application invention, programming, software testing and quality assurance all through the practical experiences from numerous companies to improve the quality of businesses and other thriving sectors.

Having this constructive piece on the Tribune’s column is believed to spark awareness on current innovative tech initiatives further driving the need for technological inspiration.

Review:

Hilary’s article, “Software as a Service (SaaS) beams as Africa’s Technology Giant For Growth and Impact” is an impactful loaf of comprehensive insight thrown at Software as a tech component and “Software as a Service” (SaaS) also as an industry input.

The centerpiece of the work underscores the advantages, growth-process and challenges faced with the industry.

Further examining how the industry can implement better impact in Africa.

There’s an observed intellectual depth in most parts of the article due to the logical x-ray of software applications and the premise surrounding its operation.

The article had effectively highlighted the advantages of SaaS, bringing on core themes like scalability, cost efficiency, accessibility and security which suffices well enough for credibility, while the pitfalls of SaaS were also identified and explored.

Good a thing that Hilary was never shy to discuss the challenges plaguing SaaS as an industry ranging from data infrastructure, regulatory irregularity and talent development, that the dependency on the internet is rather dwarfed because of the unreliable connectivity in many African regions; a risk associated with data security and cloud-based solutions, all of which are valid and worthy to note.

However, these issues as robust as they appear would have been better explored with robust solutions. Fair that Hilary pinched on a few ways to mitigating this challenge, identifying alternate solutions would have contributed to bridging knowledge gaps, further broadening the perspective of the article.

This is in line with the subtle art of even writing; where there’s a balance of a dominant opinion (problem) with a follow-up opinion (sufficient solutions), projecting sufficient clarity.

It’s laudable that the article gave a fantastic outline of current data and points in SaaS as an industry. Mentioning the issue of mobile subscribers and the rapid increase of internet penetration in Africa is noteworthy, especially since it’s a concern, but having a bit more exploration would have been helpful and add to the strength of the claims.

Intelligently, Hilary buttressed the involvement of the Government on SaaS’ industry, this argument provided clear execution pathways but was only Nigeria-specific.

Solutions on governmental involvement in other countries in a varied form would have bolstered the overall effect of the argument.

Frankly, beyond the efficiency and beautiful contributions of SaaS to economic development in Africa leading to job creation and digital inclusion, Hilary excelled to key the socio-economic impact of the industry.

There’s an ongoing digital divide in Africa, while there’s more access to technology, the bobbling question pose; are they affordable?

Are they literate enough to play through the digital space appropriately? These are insights addressed in the article, giving it a rich dimension for comprehensive impact.

Worthy to mention is the fantastic projections of SaaS in the future Hilary highlighted. This, inadvertently, is my favorite part of the article because here comes the essence why “beam” was chosen as a choice of word for the article’s headline.

Projections far away to 2030 spotlights technological shifts and inventions that would positively influence the SaaS landscape in Africa.

They include advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and IoT, all providing ultimate solutions to future human problems.

To wrap my observations, Hilary’s software-oriented article is yet another scholarly attempt to add to the tech knowledge bank, providing a solid foundation for understanding SaaS’ industry and the potentials it possesses in Africa.

In as much as some areas were left gray with very little details to grapple with, the article overall, is beautiful and insightful.

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Chibuzor Obilom is software professional whose intelligent input were put to fore in companies such as RightClick, Vatebra, NIBSS, Flutterwave and M-KOPA. Applications such as CentralPay, CMMS, mCASH, NCS, ICAD, eBillsPay, I’m Alive, GSI, BVN, and NIP are to his name, serving as veritable solutions in tech, breaking the bias and pushing Africa’s tech landscape forward.

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