Pan-African fintech company, M-KOPA, has reached a major milestone, serving 10 million customers across its five African markets, underscoring the rapid adoption of its financial inclusion model designed for underserved informal workers.
The achievement marks a dramatic acceleration in the company’s growth trajectory. While it took M-KOPA eight years to reach its first one million customers after launching with solar financing in 2012, it has added the remaining nine million customers in just six years following its expansion into smartphone financing in 2020.
The company attributed the growth to rising demand for its More than a Phone platform, which combines smartphone financing with embedded insurance, credit and device protection at the point of purchase.
Speaking on the milestone, M-KOPA Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jesse Moore, said the company was proving that informal sector workers have always been viable borrowers when offered products designed around their earning patterns.
“Every Day Earners have always been creditworthy. What they needed was credit built around how they really make a living, not a payslip. Informal has never meant unviable. 10 million customers on, that’s no longer a belief. It’s proven,” he said.
M-KOPA said its business is built around what it describes as “Every Day Earners”—including traders, boda riders, tailors and shopkeepers—who generate income daily but have traditionally been excluded from formal financial services.
According to the company in a statement shared with Business Post, independent surveys show that nine out of every 10 customers believe its products have improved their lives. The firm also noted that the market opportunity remains substantial, with nearly nine in 10 workers in sub-Saharan Africa earning their livelihoods in the informal economy.
It added that Africa is expected to have one of the world’s largest populations of non-salaried, economically active adults by 2040, making the segment central to its long-term growth strategy.
Beyond its customer base, M-KOPA highlighted its manufacturing and market expansion efforts. In Kenya, the company established what it describes as Africa’s largest smartphone assembly factory in 2023. The facility employs more than 400 people, has attained global ISO certification, and has produced over 3.3 million devices.
Nigeria has also emerged as a key growth market, becoming the fastest country in M-KOPA’s history to surpass one million customers. The company’s operations are supported by a direct sales network of more than 40,000 agents spread across its five African markets.
Financially, M-KOPA said its revenue has expanded at an average annual rate of 50 per cent since 2020. The company has also earned international recognition, appearing on the Financial Times’ list of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for five consecutive years and being named among CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies for the second straight year.
On his part, the Chief Financial Officer of M-KOPA, Mr Faraimose Kutadzaushe, said the latest milestone reflects both the resilience of the company’s business model and the growing demand for financial products tailored to Africa’s informal workforce.
“Every Day Earners are why we do this. From our very first customer to this year’s ten millionth, this is proof that a model built for Africa’s Every Day Earners doesn’t just work, it scales and endures. It’s a proud moment for our team, and we’re already looking to the next 10 million,” he said.