M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and Telkom’s T-Cash agents handled 3.26 trillion shillings, a 52 percent increase from 2.14 trillion shillings to June according to the recent data released by the Central Bank of Kenya. This is the highest in a decade.
When Covid-19 hit, Kenyans, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta were encouraged to embrace the use of mobile money to cut down on the possibility of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. CBK directed banks to drop transaction charges to facilitate this.
The rise by more than 1 trillion shillings of mobile phone cash transactions reflects the continued economic recovery after the curbs that followed the pandemic shed jobs and led to business closure.
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“Indicators for the Kenyan economy point to a relatively strong GDP (gross domestic product) recovery in the first half of 2021, mainly supported by a strong performance of construction, information and communication, education, and real estate sectors,” CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said.
For more than 10 years, Kenya has been leading 20 other African countries in financial inclusion, thanks to such platforms as M-PESA that have been key in enabling this. M-PESA is the largest revenue earner for the giant telco Safaricom.
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The rise in mobile transactions has been hailed by CBK as a sign of the recovery of the economy that had been affected by the Covid-19. The pandemic led to the closure of businesses and more than four million Kenyans losing their jobs.
However, the opening up of the economy by President Uhuru Kenyatta has enabled Kenyans and investors to move freely and transact as compared to when the country was under lockdown. The rise in Covid-19 cases is however a threat to many sectors.