
The Age of M-Pesa - sillybilly
https://owaahh.com/the-age-of-mpesa/
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JuanTono
M-Pesa is a great project. Back in 2016 my team and I tried to replicate
M-Pesa in Mexico for bank the unbanked people in rural areas, financial
assistance and give them a type of basic income. Only Cisco México and Susie
Wee supported us, the government wasn't interested in implementing that.

Here is a short description of the project:[https://mundocontact.com/dinero-
movil-ganador-del-solutions-...](https://mundocontact.com/dinero-movil-
ganador-del-solutions-makers-en-cisco-live/)

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GreeniFi
Hi Juan, I was part of a team which built a mobile money (MPesa) only
microfinance bank in Kenya. I now live in Mex (for family reasons). I’d love
to chat to exchange experiences and what I’m working on now, which is related.

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JuanTono
Hi, yes of course. We can talk by DM in twitter (@juanantonio488).

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adz_6891
Interesting take the mpesa back story. For those interested in the current
state of the mobile money industry in Africa and other developing countries I
can recommend GSMA [1].

While I think the "send money home" value proposition story in Kenya was
crucial, it doesn't really explain why mobile money works (or doesn't work) as
a service. This is basically all to do with massive agent networks. The
business model isn't as easy to get going as people assume, and most telcos
failed to pull it off. Regulation (or lack of it) was also very critical for
Kenya's success.

In general mobile money is fascinating to examine though. And it's an absolute
game changer in Kenya!

[1] [https://www.gsma.com/sotir/](https://www.gsma.com/sotir/)

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hckr_news
Interesting thanks for sharing that link. Slightly unrelated but what are some
potential opportunities for business in Kenya for those living abroad but want
to return?

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adz_6891
I think there are a range of software businesses that are now viable given the
maturity of the mobile money systems, the penetration of smartphones and
coverage of data networks. B2C is tough as purchasing power is low, but if you
get to significant enough scale it works out. I'm seeing physical products do
better for now in B2C, e.g there are a lot of so called pay as you go solar
product players with decent investment now. I think B2B is still pretty
untapped though and is personally what I'd explore more. Lots of businesses
require tech solutions that solve challenges specific to a doing business
context in East Africa. There are a lot of startups in Nairobi now, but
quality is wildly variable. There are lots of gaps to fill!

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owenmarshall
Money transfer systems in developing countries are fascinating. Hawala[1] is
one notable example – a remarkably fast, efficient and cost-effective system
based on interpersonal relationships and trust.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala)

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pradn
Hawala is a pretty common way for people to send large sums of money between
the USA and India. Amounts on the order of $100,000+ are not unheard of.

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yboris
The top-rated charity[1] _Give Directly_ [2] uses M-Pesa to do unconditional
cash transfers to some of the world's poorest families! Without this
technology, the challenges of cash distribution would be very high.

[1] [https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-
charities](https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities) [2]
[https://www.givedirectly.org/](https://www.givedirectly.org/)

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dang
Links for the curious:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22115542](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22115542)

2015:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10612723](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10612723)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10458071](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10458071)

2014:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7249492](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7249492)

2013:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6035054](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6035054)

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prisonguard
i live in kenya and frequently use m-pesa, this service is too expensive, a
charge for both sending and receiving money just won't fly, sadly it's backed
by powers that be who constantly stiffle innovation in the payment space,

kenya is still in dark ages in fairness and plurality of payment systems.

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coderintherye
I think, while your view point is valid, it ignores that, at the time, M-PESA
was a huge leap forward. They were doing mobile money before pretty much
anyone. Now, yes, Safaricom has monopolized it and is falling behind and
overcharging, but that doesn't negate the initial innovation having been
world-changing.

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prisonguard
technology has gone past simple cash transfer via USSD we are talking of
virtual currencies, trust networks, tokens now.

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joseph
When I visited Kenya in 2012, I was fascinated to discover that this existed,
and had been going strong for years already. Meanwhile in the US, money
transfer seems dated by comparison. Crypto offers some hope, but the ecosystem
is so fragmented and dominated by shady people.

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solotronics
If you look at Google search trends for the last year African countries have
been the top searchers for "bitcoin". This is something people in the West
usually don't understand, having a secure money that's accessible with only a
phone.

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GreeniFi
Thanks to the poster, thanks to the writer. Super interesting.

