6th Apr 2020 12:19
(Alliance News) - Vodacom Group Ltd and Safaricom on Monday reported the completion of the acquisition of the M-PESA brand, product development and support services from Vodafone Group PLC through a newly-created joint venture.
The transaction, which was first announced in 2019, will accelerate M-PESA's growth in Africa by giving both Vodacom and Safaricom full control of the brand, product development and support services as well as the opportunity to expand M-PESA into new African markets.
M-PESA is the payments platform on the African continent, which has 40 million users and processes over a billion transactions every month.
The disposal of the M-PESA brand, support and product development services to Vodacom and Safaricom is broadly financially neutral for Vodafone.
"This is a significant milestone for Vodacom as it will accelerate our financial services aspirations in Africa. Our joint venture will allow Vodacom and Safaricom to drive the next generation of the M-PESA platform – an intelligent, cloud-based platform for the smartphone age. It will also help us to promote greater financial inclusion and help bridge the digital divide within the communities in which we operate," said Vodacom Chief Executive Shameel Joosub.
"M-PESA is hugely successful and enables millions of unbanked people in Africa to transfer money, pay bills and trade. It benefits communities and helps create a multitude of small and micro-business ventures. However, with the rapid increase in smartphone penetration, the evolution into financial services and the potential for geographical expansion, we believe the next step in M-PESA's African growth will be more effectively overseen by Vodacom and Safaricom," added Vodafone CEO Nick Read.
Vodafone holds about 61% stake in Vodacom.
Vodacom shares were trading 1.1% lower in Johannesburg on Monday at ZAR118.47 each, while Vodafone shares were up 2.3% in London at 113.60 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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