This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
Published on October 9, 2019, the Project Management Institute (PMI) named M-PESA, Safaricom's mobile money service, as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Finance Projects of the last 50 years in its 2019 Most Influential Projects list.
Out of over 1,000 projects considered by a group of 400 leaders in the global project management community, M-PESA stood out for its significant impact on society.
'We are honored to receive this accolade and global recognition which is a true testament to our impact on society,' said Michael Joseph, CEO of Safaricom. 'This recognition further underlines M-PESA's commitment to our customers and its transformation to the country which has seen financial inclusion in Kenya grow by more than 50 percent in the last 12 years to stand at more than 82 percent today.'
According to PMI, the project list identified efforts that changed the world, shaped lives, and altered the DNA of the organizations and companies that launched them.
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, PMI recognized the important role project management has played over the past five decades and celebrated where the profession is going.
Notably, M-PESA has been credited with lifting more than 195,000 Kenyan families from extreme poverty by empowering customers with the agency to receive money from any other phone user in the country, as found by economists from MIT and Georgetown University in 2017.
With over 26 million active customers today, M-PESA's impact extends through its ecosystem of more than 1,100 suppliers, 400 active dealers, and more than 167,000 agents who benefit directly from the service. It has also contributed up to KES 75 billion in revenue to Safaricom.
