Beyond M-PESA: Peter Ndegwa’s Safaricom Vision

As Safaricom looks beyond traditional telecommunications, its CEO is betting on financial services, artificial intelligence and connectivity to shape the company’s next phase of growth.

Safaricom’s future is no longer just about calls, data bundles and mobile money transfers. Under CEO Peter Ndegwa, the company is pursuing a broader ambition: to become a technology business that connects people, supports enterprises and expands access to financial services.

In an interview with CNN’s Victoria Rubadiri for Marketplace Africa, Ndegwa reflects on six years at the helm and the decisions that have shaped Safaricom’s growth. These include expanding into Ethiopia, growing M-PESA beyond mobile payments and investing in connectivity infrastructure.

The company’s ambition, he says, is to become “Africa’s leading purpose-led technology company”. It is a shift that places technology and innovation at the centre of how Safaricom responds to changing customer needs.

M-PESA’s Next Chapter

M-PESA remains central to that vision. What began as a mobile money transfer service has grown into a platform used by individuals and businesses for everyday transactions. Safaricom now wants to broaden its role across the financial services sector.

Ndegwa says the goal is to make it easier for more people to access services that have traditionally been difficult to reach.

“We want to broaden and democratize access so you can either pay, you can save, you can invest, you can insure using M-PESA,” he says.

The ambition goes beyond making payments convenient. It points to a wider financial ecosystem in which customers can access several services through a familiar digital platform.

For small-scale traders and established merchants, M-PESA also provides tools to accept payments and pay suppliers and employees. These services can help businesses manage daily transactions while making digital payments part of their routine operations.

As the platform expands, Safaricom is moving into areas where banks and fintech companies also operate. Ndegwa sees the relationship as a mix of competition and collaboration.

“Financial institutions like banks and insurance companies are competitors, but they’re also partners,” he says.

Beyond M-PESA: Peter Ndegwa’s Safaricom Vision

Why AI Matters to Safaricom

The growth of digital financial services brings another challenge: protecting customers and their money.

Safaricom processes approximately 150 million transactions every day. At that scale, identifying suspicious activity and responding to potential fraud requires more than manual checks.

Ndegwa says artificial intelligence and data are essential to strengthening fraud prevention as digital transactions continue to grow.

“We can’t manually be able to prevent fraud if we didn’t have AI and we have a data layer,” he says.

AI is also part of Safaricom’s plans to make its services more personal and useful. Through its My OneApp platform, which has launched in Kenya, the company aims to bring services together in one place.

The app is designed to help individuals access services more conveniently while giving businesses tools to manage their operations. AI-powered personalization is expected to help tailor the experience to different users.

Investing in Kenya’s Digital Future

Safaricom’s technology ambitions also depend on reliable connectivity. As demand for data grows, the company continues to invest in infrastructure to expand network capacity.

Ndegwa says Safaricom spends approximately US$400 million to US$500 million on infrastructure in Kenya. The investment supports the connectivity needed for people and businesses to participate in an increasingly digital economy.

The company’s expansion into Ethiopia is another major part of its growth journey, extending its operations beyond its home market.

Together, these moves reflect a strategy that combines network infrastructure, digital financial services and technology-driven products. The challenge is to ensure that these investments respond to real customer needs while supporting the company’s commercial goals.

Growth With a Wider Purpose

For Ndegwa, Safaricom’s transformation is not only about expanding its services or competing in new markets. It is also about the role technology can play in addressing gaps in financial inclusion and meeting wider societal needs.

M-PESA’s expanding range of services, business payment tools and investment in connectivity all form part of that ambition. The company is seeking to make digital services useful to a wider range of customers, from individuals managing their finances to businesses handling daily operations.

The next phase will test how effectively Safaricom can balance business performance with social impact while navigating competition and the risks that come with a growing digital ecosystem.

Ndegwa’s vision signals a future in which Safaricom aims to be more than a telecommunications provider. Its success will increasingly depend on how well it combines connectivity, financial services and technology to solve problems for customers across Africa.

View the programme details on CNN’s Marketplace Africa page.

The programme explores Safaricom’s transformation, the future of M-PESA and the role of AI and connectivity in expanding financial inclusion across Africa.