According to industry figures published on Friday by the Communications Authority (CA), Airtel Money‘s market share increased somewhat from 6.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2023/2024 to 7.6 per cent in the three months leading up to September 2024.
In the mobile money industry, Safaricom’s M-Pesa remained the market leader, but its market share decreased slightly from 93.4 per cent in June 2024 to 92.3 per cent in September 2024.
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Safaricom’s M-PESA maintains lead
With a 65.7 per cent market share in mobile sim subscriptions, Safaricom continues to lead the industry, while Airtel holds a 29.6 per cent share. Both networks saw a minor decimal increase in market share over the previous quarter.
With 2.1 per cent of the market, Finserve (Equitel) mobile sim subscriptions surpassed both Jamii Networks and Telkom Kenya, while its competitors had 1.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent of the market, respectively.
According to the Q4 2023/2024 CA figures, Jamii’s market share has not changed, while Telkom and Equitel have similar 2.1 per cent market shares.
In September 2024, Kenya’s total number of mobile money subscribers surpassed 40 million, up 2 per cent from 39.8 million in June 2024.
There were 365,432 mobile money agents nationwide in September of last year, up 5.1 per cent from 347,699 in June 2024.
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68 million mobile phone devices connected to mobile networks
According to the most recent data, there were 68.1 million mobile phone devices linked to mobile networks, representing a 132.2 per cent penetration rate.
With a 72.6 per cent penetration rate, smartphones were the most popular, followed by feature phones with a 59.6 per cent penetration rate.
In Kenya, mobile money services continue to be essential to operators’ revenue growth.
Due to higher user usage, M-Pesa’s sales jumped 16.6 per cent to KSh 77.2 billion in the six months ending in September, according to Safaricom’s half-year results.
There are already 266,070 M-Pesa agents nationwide. The sector has enormous growth potential, as seen by the 31.4 per cent growth in mobile money in Airtel’s East African operations in the most recent financial report.
There were an estimated 90,000 Airtel Money agents in Kenya at the end of 2024. To increase its reach, the service also considered important alliances with big-box stores such as Moja Motorway and Naivas.