Safaricom opened a US$2 million operations centre in Kenya to enhance its M-Pesa mobile money platform and prepare for launches into new markets.
In a statement, Safaricom detailed the Shared Service Operations Centre will support M-Pesa operations in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Lesotho, Ghana, and future markets it expands to.
The centre consolidates multiple operations offices in Africa and Europe into a single location for the first time and is part of Safaricom’s strategy to transition to a digital cloud-based platform.
The operator added the new M-Pesa platform is designed to be scalable and offer all markets its portfolio of products and services, support integration of new products and services and leverage emerging technologies such as Big Data and AI.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said: “The M-Pesa Africa Shared Service Operations Centre builds on our purpose by enabling us to deliver a higher service quality and increased platform reliability as we expand to more markets and add more products to the platform.”
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub added: “Financial services remain a priority for us as we drive financial and digital inclusion on the continent. The launch of this Operations Centre is an important milestone and testament to our commitment to continue delivering innovative and cost-effective personal finance and business solutions that were previously difficult and cumbersome to acquire – further supporting us in connecting the next 100 million African customers.”
