An African Success Story Explained

7/30/2019 An African Success Story Explained

1/810 EBR #2 2012

cover story Betty Mwangi-Thuo

Basic factsNAME Betty Mwangi-Thuo TITLE General Manager o Financial ServicesCOMPANY Saaricom AGE 43 HEADQUARTERS Nairobi


2/8EBR #2 2012 11

Globally, mobile money has not yet lived up to the hype.Yet in Kenya, leading operator afaricom has built a mobile

money juggernaut with its MPESAservice. With a user base of morethan 15 million subscribers,

MPESA is both raking in revenue and extending financial

services to entirely newsectors of the population.Whats the secret? BettyMwangiThuo, General

anager for Financial

ervices at afaricom,reveals how Kenyansare succeedingwhere almosteveryone elsehas failed.

Itsnotabout

thephones

An Africansuccess story revealed:

TEXTNathan Hegedus | PHOTOSChris Maluszynski


3/812 EBR #2 2012

MPESA WAS NOT oivd td-riz obil-oy rvi. I-t, it volv orgilly o th

trt o Ky iti villg. Ytm-pesa h rtilly hg both thglobl obil-oy rk ily K-

y li, kig th trt r, owr-ig wo rrig ooi lo-t, ro ig th rit rkt toig log-dit oy trr h-r ir.

Oh, i lo kig Srio lo ooy, oig or or h ro h oror r i .

So how did Srio ll thi o, r rotritiol tr o iovtio i Ero North Ari? It ot thr-rog rgy:

3 h oy oi h iil h ror o th tir orgiztioo h roj, illy i loig iwork o or g

3 it w m-pesa br-bilig vl- rvi kt rv xt-io low

3ot iorttly, Srio litd to thKy ol.

So i m-pesa w ot iitilly or-il obil-oy rvi, wht w it? Itw iroi rojt, dd joitly byVoo th Britih Govrt. Ytro th bgiig, m-pesa bribrtrt ig th rvi to trr oybtw thlv, illig wly obviog i h Ky iil ri or.

IN , VODAFONE AND SAFARICOM (whih irilly ow by Voo)

roll ot m-pesa oril r-to-r trr rvi, tr o xt-i xi work o g og h-i, h-o ri lo o -r oibl.

A w oh lr, By Mwgi-Tho lril gir by riig obor to r th tivly il rvi.Hr tk? To tr ilot rojt ito bi.

A by ll o, h . Wih-i yr o it lh, m-pesa (th m tdor obil h wor i Swhili oroy) h illio bribr. I ivyr, it h grow to or th , gt or th o-thir o th otry

olio. I rio, h Gororo th Ctrl Bk o Ky, NjgNg, ot tht o Dbr ,m-pesa r h rrr ol o .billio hillig (usd . billio), whil b-ribr o th rvi lot otitor,Tgz, hd trrrd . billio hillig(usd . illio).

It jt tohd th vry ol o th o-try, Mwgi-Tho y. It hblig. I hvrli who y, I o kow wh I wol

h o wiho hi.

MPESA COMPRISES or or rvi: yigbill; rhig irti; trrrig o-y to both othr r d o-r; d d-oiig wihrwig oy.

Arod th world thr i o obil-o-y tory qit li m-pesa. Cott-ly roo h x big hig o-y th ot h l ortor, bk, ri-r oi o r-rhigrh or th right orl or obil wl-l, obil y o o.

I rtrot Ky w rtil rktor obil oy. It h rltivly lrgbr o obil r or

High versus lowburn

MPESA IS A RUNAWAY SUCCESS i Ky. Bt it b rlit lwhr? A look tighborig Tzi highlight thlow-br trtgy tht Vodo i ig tobil m-pesa i ir ki o lork.

Tzi Ky y b E Ariighbor b, i r o obil oy, ii or ior o look hir ir- h hir iilrii.

I tr o r, Tzi i bot twi lrg Ky. I i l ly ol-d d h igiitly lowr obil--trtio rt: i , it w till oly r- r yr o ri ir, o-r with or th rt -rio r i Ky.

Voo roll ot m-pesa i Tzithrogh it bidiry Vodo Tzi i, j yr r Srio iroth rvi i Ky. Fro th bgiig,

th oy h tk irt tk iTzi low-br trtgy orwith th t-br tho i Ky,whr Srio ivt hvily roti lrg work o g.

FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS, m-pesagrowth i Tzi to lg igii-ly bhi h ri growh i Ky.Bt i rtrot, h o thi g bttribtd to th dir btw th tworkt. Th iz o Tzi, orwih i rlily ll rb r, it hr to t tiv gt twork il. I dditio, Vodo Tzi ldth trog rkt r tht Srioh i Ky, m-pesa i Tzi h trog obil-oy otitioro th bgiig ro oi li Air-l (orrly Zi) Zl.

Yt th low-br trtgy i yig o,

illy tr th iortt hg thtVodo Tzi d to iliy it r-tig trtgy d ri trtr. Th o-y or th illio r ltyr, brigig i rk hr o r-t ovrll, with Mgig Dirtor R

Mz iig m-pesa h riry rir.

CONSIDERING THE MARKET i ighborig T-zi, Mwgi-Tho gr h h r-kt rt w t o hllg. Btthr i o ro m-pesa ot i y br o ori, h y.

I yo look t vloig ooi,thr i othig tlr bot Ky,h y. Thr r y otri whrol ort othr ol rotly.m-pesa i lry ilbl i Soh Ari,Aghi Tzi, i bo olh i Ii. Ar thr oortiti iohr ori? Y.

This is m oney w e are talking about. You have to have trust. Safaricom has always been a Kenyan serv ice Kenyans are proud of i t .


4/8EBR #2 2012 13

Even my life has changed, says Mwangi-Thuo.The other night, I heard from a person in distress.Shed had an accident. I was able, with a push of abutton, to push money from my bank account and

send it to her. This is life.

Betty Mwangi-Thuo cover story


5/814 EBR #2 2012

Background checkEmployment 2011present: Saaricom, GeneralManager, Financial Services business unit,Nairobi

20072011: Saaricom, Chie Oicer New Products and Services Division,Nairobi

20022007:Asat CommunicationsArica, Chie Marketing Oicer, Nairobi

20012002:Medex Marketing, ManagingDirector, Nairobi

19962001: SmithKline Beecham

International, Demand Management andSpecial Projects, Nairobi

19931996:Wilken, Manager TelephonesDivision, Nairobi

1991: GPT, work on theoreticalassessment o proposed radiotelecommunications links, Coventry, UK

Education 2004: MBA, University o Leicester, UK

1993: Diploma in Marketing, CharteredInstitute o Marketing, InternationalCollege, London, UK

1990: B.Sc. in electrical and electronicengineering, Victoria University oManchester, UK

cover story Betty Mwangi-Thuo


6/8EBR #2 2012 15

liit to bkig rvi. It h rb oltio tht ort r-rl o, bt with oor irtrtr orrrrig oy. Millio o ol r-li o b rivr or ri to livroy to ro grt it, lvigh o th oltio vlrbl i th

vt o rol rgi, roght ohr rl ir.

J ior, Ky h rglor,

th Ctrl Bk o Ky, whih rovxigly o o ioio ir, rg-ltio ltr, llowig m-pesa to dvlo ot-id th trditiol iil-rvi id-try. Th rti oitio o m-pesa i r-ltio to th tblih bkig ytworri th origil m-pesa t grtly, h Crl Bk ol h kill hroj ro h bgiig.

B h rglor h b rlly, rllyhll, trtig wh th rojt w i i-lot i , Mwgi-Tho y.W rh o ollbor.

THE REAL SECRET to m-pesa ly iSrio rltiohi with it to-r: two-wy rltiohi tht llow rog ib o io lik r-y r.

Fir, Srio i o rioriy ovlo xtiv twork o m-pesa

g riy high-br rgy hrqir h ll oi o h irSrio orgizio.

O o or or w h o-itt o gt, Mwgi-Thoy. W h to b ry to t i thoy ror ry or gooiribio work o h ol wolot hv to trvl r gi to thiroy. Tht wold hv dtd th whol

ro.Yt tho o gt wol hv

ohig i r h o r S-rio (whih got it trt i b-idiry o tt tlo gy Tlo K-y) wih hir oy.

THIS IS MONEY w r tlig bot, Mw-gi-Tho y. Yo hv to hv trt. S-rio h lwy b Ky rodt.It i ow by Ky. Srio h l-wy oiio il ro iig ol-tio or Ky, Ky lik tht.Ky r ro o i.

It w lo y tht Srio did ot x-t idit rtr o it ivtt.Th ortor w obil oy r

vl- rvi, wy to t itbo wih i or.

O thi lvl, th rvi b-yo ll xttio. Th oy

It s just tou ched the very soul of the country. I t s hum bling.I have relatives w ho say, I dont kn ow w hat I w ould have done w ithou t th is.

Mobile data, SMS and M-PESA contribution to Safaricoms ongoing revenue

30%

25

20

1512.9

6.9

4.32.2

18.8

6.5

3.7

9.4

26.0

Total data revenue

M-PESASMS

Mobile data

The three revenue channels now contribute over a quarter of revenues

and are gradually offsetting the decline in voice revenues

13.4

8.5

6.1

10

5

0

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011

Source: Safaricom Full year 2010-2011 results


7/816 EBR #2 2012

ri h rog oror, wih orth rt rkt hr, v thKy rt h b loodd with toghotitio ro ortor Airtl Ky Org Wirl, boh i obil o-y i oi lor.

BUT IT IS IMPORTANT to rbr tht thr rltiohi t th hrt o m-pesa iwht t it rt ro othr ttt toly th obil-oy g. Th rvi h o bribr o-tioly rovidig db to Srio.

A b Srio h lit, ith b bl o lib rl hr-xri lr. To bk thi ,Mwgi-Tho it or tiogit r o o hr hight riori-ti, wll th iort o il,oi riig. All hi io otor h i o with goo bzz,grt loylty rvi tht b igrl r o Ky oiy.

Or ro l r riv bybribr bk, Mwgi-Tho y.W w o kow wh or r w o or or o o h lor. Wo lo o rrh b, io-i w oy, hr i owhr l ih worl w look.

IF YOU REVIEW THE HISTORY o m-pesa iKy, yo will tht th r-to-root w lwy vry iortt

rt o th oy. For log ti, whv hd rb oiti tht r lrg-ly ortig rrl oiti, o olhv lwy tritiolly b igoy ho, bt ow, yo gt or dor ri o h lor, ol lo

w o i o y hir wr, lriiy tv bill, or xl.

A, o gi, Srio h li,rollig o y gr wih ili-ty oi, rrkt othr r-ilr. Eloyr r lo bl o y l-ri hrogh m-pesa. Goig rhr,

m-pesa i ow itgrt with or th bk, boh lol iriol, hort i Ky. With thi itgrtio,bk bribr m-pesa to - i hir bk o.

IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD, h o h o-bil-oy tl i bot r-ild o-itio (nfc) how ortor o gi or oor wih hbig rit-r lyr lik Vi MrCr.

A whil Srio i o to o thtr, hvig tr ito lol gr-t with Vi rri ot xtivrrh io nfc, hy ily o rlth rrt rlity o th Ky rkt,Mwgi-Tho y.

nfc ht v ik i Ero,h y. Ar w looig t nfc? O or.B i qi xi hology, w d to loo t it rtr o ivtt.

MWANGITHUO IS ESPECIALLY it to thiott voltio. A yog hil iNyri, tow r Mot Ky, h lovdto tir, tig rt rdio d othr l-

roi i j o how hy work( i h ol rrly h bk o-ghr gi).

Hr rt (hr thr i i bi,whil hr ohr r hool) wr -ortiv o hr rly or th, i

ll thig thil tritiollyboy bj, i ohr wor.

Thy it itigih btw [Mwgi-Tho hr two iblig], hy. Thr w othig tht w jt orboy or jt or girl. Thy blivd tht yoj go g wh yo o g. Go or i.

I ot kow why thy wr tht rogr-i. Yo wol h o go lk o h.

Ltr, h hdd to th uk to tdy, r-ig gr i lril lroi -girig ro th Vitori Uivrity oMhtr, whr h w o o olyhr wo i l o .

Atr grtio, h rtr to K-y qikly ov ot o girigd ito bi. Sh word t th hr-til ir SithKli Bh I-trtiol or iv yr, th rv Chi Mrkig Oir A Co-itio Ari, whr h g itribtor twork ortig i Ari- ori.

BUT SHE SAYS SHE h vr orgott hr -girig riig, riig i or hr - i ryhig ro gig ir-iol ly hi o riig m-pesa.

It i th iili o ro thikig,th thoology, h y. Gt tht, gth, g h. Yo k hor or iwill j blow i yor .

Toy h i Grl Mgr o h Fi-il Srvi bi it t Srio,

th ldr o th rwy tht i m-pesa oir o o h o ow-rl wo i h Ari lo i-ry. Sh y h lik big o h biid o thig h li ol too h bt h lo joy th thology to tlo. A or tikrig, h y thtwhil h o logr k r rio, hill lo o ikr, b o i h wy bor.

Whil I dot hv ti to tir li thtyor, h ikrig I o ow i rl liv, i y work. B w ottlyh o b oig wih [i]: Wh iw did thi, wht i w did tht? Tht howh ikrig h ol.

We like the com petit ion. Actually, w e want t he com petit ion because it givesthe indu str y credibi li ty. We dont view it as a threat. I t s good i f m oreplayers are in the m arket .

What do you see yourself doingin five years, and in 10? I hope that, in fve years, I will still be actively engaged in things that positively impactKenyan lives, either where I am at the moment or elsewhere. Thats something I fnd I completely

enjoy. In 10 years, it would be k ind o nice i I could just retire early. No, seriously, it would be niceto continue in this feld o impacting people quietly. Its about changing lives.


8/8EBR #2 2012 17

Betty Mwangi-Thuo cover story

Mwangi-Thuo says she has never faced overt sexismas a woman in telecom: I have been particularly luckywith where I work. In fact, they are very pro-women.Gender is big for them. And I think this is changing inKenyan society as a whole.

An African Success Story Explained

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