Safaricom M-Pesa announced on Monday it is partnering with Ethiopian fintech startup LakiPay Financial Technologies to enhance digital payment services in Ethiopia.
Under the terms of the partnership, Safaricom M-Pesa will integrate with LakiPay’s payment gateway, allowing merchants who have been onboarded on LakiPay to accept M-Pesa payments.
Safaricom said that M-Pesa’s integration with LakiPay would allow more businesses to leverage mobile money, reduce reliance on cash and enhance the customer experience. It also expands M-Pesa’s payment acceptance points.
Elsa Muzzolini, CEO of Safaricom M-Pesa Mobile Financial Services, said the partnership would help M-Pesa accelerate the adoption of digital financial services and support Ethiopia’s national digital economy ambitions.
“This partnership with LakiPay strengthens our efforts to drive financial inclusion and digital transformation in Ethiopia by providing more options for seamless transactions,” Muzzolini said in a statement.
The partnership comes less than a month after LakiPay secured its operating license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). LakiPay has also signed partnerships with Ethio Telecom's mobile money platform Telebirr and several local banks.
“By working together with Safaricom M-PESA, we are enabling merchants to integrate mobile payments into their businesses more efficiently,” said LakiPay founder and CEO Habtamu Tadesse. “This partnership is a testament to our shared vision of making digital transactions more accessible and reliable for businesses and consumers alike.”
