EQS News: Leading African fintech M-KOPA reaches 5 million customers, unlocks $1.5 billion in credit across 5 markets

2024 Annual Impact Report reveals how M-KOPA is deepening digital and financial inclusion across Africa

NEW YORK, United States of America, September 24, 2024/APO Group/ — M-KOPA (https://M-KOPA.com/), a leading fintech in emerging markets, announced that it has surpassed 5 million customers in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Two million of these customers have been added in the past 15 months.

M-KOPA’s innovative model makes affordable smartphones with financial services available to ‘Every Day Earners’: the vast majority of African adults who earn their income daily but struggle to afford smartphones and are typically excluded from 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 over US$1.5 billion in financing.

Customers are given access to the digital economy with an affordable daily repayment model that fits their daily income and cash flow and makes it easier to manage. By leveraging rich payment data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit file for each customer that forms the basis for a long-term financial relationship for cheaper digital loans, affordable data plans and health 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 pushing hard to go even further. We’re just getting started; the opportunity for much greater impact and scale lies ahead of us.”

M-KOPA also published its 2024 Impact Report this week, in which the company annually publishes its progress on key social and environmental impact metrics. As with previous reports, the 2024 survey of M-KOPA customers was conducted by a third-party firm, Dalberg Research.

Key impact highlights from the 2024 report include:

• 92% confirm that M-KOPA financing has made the technology more affordable.
• 80% of customers report improved quality of life thanks to M-KOPA products.
• 70% say M-KOPA has helped them achieve their financial goals, demonstrating that the company contributes to financial empowerment.
• 62% use their M-KOPA product to generate revenue

The company has had a major impact on 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 plant in Kenya, which has produced over 1 million phones locally and further reduced the cost of access.

As with previous reports, M-KOPA’s board and management use the annual impact report to shape its corporate strategy. Based on this year’s findings, M-KOPA is working to further increase its female customer base to 50%, reduce its carbon footprint by putting circularity at the heart of its smartphone supply chain, and continue to pioneer green products such as electric motorcycles that contribute to the health and sustainability of the communities where it operates.

Nena Sanderson, Chief Product Officer of M-KOPA, comments: “Our products and services create paths to prosperity for our customers and agents, enabling them to overcome financial adversity, generate income, and progress toward the future they aspire to. Our impact extends beyond our customers, reaching their families and communities and helping to build a more sustainable world.”

Headquartered in London, UK, M-KOPA now employs over 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 in the world for the past 2 years.

To read the full report, download it here: M-KOPA Impact Report 2024_Pathways To Progress (http://apo-opa.co/3TIQymu).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of M-KOPA.

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About M-KOPA:
M-KOPA is a UK-headquartered fintech company serving emerging markets, providing affordable smartphones and digital financial services. With operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the company has provided over $1.5 billion in credit to over 5 million customers. Using an innovative financing model based on daily repayments, M-KOPA provides affordable smartphones with financial services that match the cash flow of millions of underserved individuals who earn their income daily.

Using comprehensive payment data and patented AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit file for each customer. This forms the basis for a long-term financial relationship for digital loans, affordable data plans and insurance.

The company employs over 3,000 staff and 30,000 sales agents across its African markets. M-KOPA has been recognized 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 in the world for the past 2 years.

https://apo-opa.co/3TFd6Va (Rachel from Nigeria – Cover photo of the Impact Report 2024)