M-KOPA has earned a spot on the Financial Times “Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies 2024” list, marking its third consecutive year on this prestigious ranking. The company is celebrated for its consistent growth and significant role in providing affordable financing for smartphones, electric motorbikes, and digital services like loans and health insurance across sub-Saharan Africa.
In collaboration with Statista, a top provider of statistical and market data, the FT list highlights businesses demonstrating robust growth over three years. M-KOPA’s repeated inclusion underscores its crucial contribution to enhancing financial and digital inclusion in Africa.
The company has extended over $1 billion in credit to more than 4 million individuals typically excluded from traditional financing. Its innovative micropayments model, which eliminates the need for collateral or guarantors, has made inaccessible products and digital services available to millions. By making smartphones affordable, M-KOPA has connected many users to the internet for the first time, enhancing their participation in the digital economy. This impact is facilitated by its distribution network, proprietary technology, and AI Machine Learning models, which deliver smartphones equipped with life-enhancing financial services.
M-KOPA’s achievements include disbursing over $1 billion in digital credit, impacting lives through financial and digital inclusion, employing over 2,000 people, and expanding its reach through a network of 20,000 sales agents. The company has also grown beyond East Africa into Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, supporting individuals without traditional financial access. It established Kenya’s first local smartphone assembly factory, hiring 300 recent graduates, 70% of whom were first-time job holders.
Faraimose Kutadzaushe, M-KOPA CFO, expressed pride in the company’s consistent ranking on the FT list. He emphasized M-KOPA’s commitment to long-term customer relationships, starting with providing smartphones crucial for overcoming financial challenges and fostering financial inclusivity across Africa.
