M-KOPA Hits Milestone as Smartphone Financing Takes Off in Africa
Pan-African fintech M-KOPA has reached a significant milestone of 10 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. This achievement underscores the rapid growth of smartphone financing as one of Africa’s most promising financial products.
The company initially took eight years to reach its first million customers after launching in 2012 as a solar financing business. However, since expanding into smartphone financing in 2020, M-KOPA has added an additional nine million customers in just six years—a testament to both the market demand and changing access to credit.
Nigeria Emerges as Fastest-Growing Market
M-KOPA highlighted that Nigeria became the fastest market in its history to surpass one million customers. This demonstrates how quickly their financing model resonates with Africa’s largest economy, where many potential customers lack traditional banking relationships or extensive credit histories.
Unlike conventional lenders, M-KOPA focuses on “Every Day Earners”—traders, artisans, transport operators, and small business owners who generate daily income but often fall outside formal financial services. Their flagship offering combines smartphone financing with value-added services like insurance and device protection through installment payments.
Smartphones as Financial Infrastructure
The milestone also reflects how smartphones have evolved beyond consumer gadgets into essential digital infrastructure across Africa. For many users, owning a smartphone is the first step toward accessing mobile banking, online commerce, remote work opportunities, and other financial services—creating a powerful economic gateway.
M-KOPA’s growth in Nigeria aligns with broader trends in the country’s fintech ecosystem, where smartphone access is increasingly critical for financial inclusion. With inflation impacting handset affordability, financing options have become essential for bridging that gap.
Local Manufacturing and Expansion
The company has invested beyond just financing—opening Africa’s largest smartphone assembly facility in Kenya in 2023, which now employs over 400 people and assembled more than 3.3 million devices to date. Their distribution network includes over 40,000 sales agents across all markets.
M-KOPA’s revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 50% since 2020, adding roughly 10,000 new customers daily—a trajectory that earned them recognition on the Financial Times’ Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies list and CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies.
“Every Day Earners have always been creditworthy. What they needed was credit built around how they really make a living,” said Jesse Moore, M-KOPA co-founder and CEO—emphasizing the company’s focus on serving previously underserved populations.