Safaricom Reveals Plans For Mobile Services For Women

Kenya’s Safaricom understands this isn’t just a man’s world.

Safaricom announced the company is working to deploy a new mobile service that meets Kenyan women’s needs. According to Human IPO, Safaricom met with the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) mWomen, and other mobile network operators, to present a new approach to mobile money services that targets female consumers.

The conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya, where Safaricom’s corporate affairs director, Nzioka Waita, shared the future vision of the company. She revealed that Safaricom wishes to further develop its services and continue to improve the Kenyan quality of life.

Why is Safaricom looking to specifically target women?

M-Pesa and M-Shwari are two financial services provided by Safaricom that have helped to increase financial inclusion, and have helped to prove that opportunities do exist for those at the bottom of the financial pyramid. Mobile money services have transformed the lifestyles of consumers in developing markets, and especially the women.

M-Shwari gives Kenyan women a platform to save money and borrow loans, which allows them to improve their financial stability. Women can use these money transfer programs such as M-Shwari to fund opening family businesses and making school payments for their children. Prior to mobile transfers, parents could be forced to walk long distances to their child’s school. They may have to wait in long lines just for the sake of making a single payment. Mobile money afforded Kenyans a luxury that many were not used to having.

Safaricom created a platform that allows easier access to finances, which in turn has helped the nation’s health, education and government programs.

Other services such as The Finance Trust and M-Kopa Solar have helped Kenyan customers, particularly women, buy affordable products through providing them with payment plans that are customized to their unique needs.

“The rationale behind our products and services for women is that at least half our customers are women and that women make a significant contribution towards driving forward Kenya’s economic development and growth at the micro and macro levels,” said Waita.

To read the full story at Human IPO, click here.