How M-Pesa has overcome frequent system failures to be global mobile money leader - Michael Joseph

Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money platform has evolved from a service plagued by frequent failures to one of the world’s most reliable and widely used systems, Safaricom's founding CEO, Michael Joseph has said.

Speaking during the celebration to mark 18 years since its launch, Joseph recounted how the system, which they used to store customers' data, would break down almost daily.

"We used to experience challenges almost daily," he said.

This, according to Joseph, even worsened when the number of customers grew.

"With the continued increase in the number of users, that tiny box in the corner of an office in Cambridge that hosted the platform could no longer handle the demand," he explained.

He said with concerns from users and other stakeholders rising, "I had to travel to go and find out what the issue was."

"When I got there, I asked them where our system is and they said it is that box on top of that shelf."

He, however, stated that with necessary investments, Safaricom and its partners later established two data centres-one in Ratingen in Germany, and one in the UK- to provide a failsafe facility.

However, in April 2015, these international data centres were consolidated into a single M-Pesa data centre in Kenya, bringing the system’s core closer to its user base.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said such challenges are now a thing of the past thanks to innovative solutions.

Looking ahead, Ndegwa said they are focused on ensuring that M-Pesa remains adaptable to emerging technologies, particularly in the areas of blockchain and artificial intelligence, to further enhance user experience.

Launched on March 6, 2007, M-Pesa has grown to be a benchmark for financial solutions across the globe.

Initially met with skepticism, its ease of use and convenience quickly won over users.

A month after the launch, M-PESA had 19,671 mobile active users.

In November of that year, the numbers had ballooned to an unprecedented 1,041,522 active M-PESA users.

Ndegwa said currently they record 180 million transactions daily and 4,000 transactions per second.

Present during the event were Safaricom Board chairperson Adil Khawaja and Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe who was credited with helping the Telcos obtain the necessary certifications.

Kagwe served as the IT minister during that period.

Also in attendance were former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u and ex-CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge.

Khawaja acknowledged that when M-Pesa was launched it was met first with scepticism.

He said, "Without the resilience and dedication of our employees and stakeholders, M-Pesa would not be where it is today."