What Airtel Money’s Comeback against M-Pesa in Kenya teaches about Challenging Market Giants
What Airtel Money’s Comeback against M-Pesa in Kenya teaches about Challenging Market Giants
For years, Safaricom’s M-Pesa was the immovable force in Kenya’s mobile money market. It dominated not only customer wallets but also public imagination, with over 90% market share and a network so vast it became synonymous with mobile money itself.
But quietly—and strategically—Airtel Money has staged a comeback. It didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen by mimicking M-Pesa’s dominance. Instead, it was a masterclass in what challenger telcos can do right when facing a Goliath.
Kenya’s story offers rich lessons—and data—to learn from.
The Data Behind the Comeback
Let’s get specific. Airtel Money’s growth in Kenya isn’t just marketing spin—it’s backed by meaningful numbers:
- Agent Market Share:
- Airtel’s mobile money agent share grew from ~8% in 2018 to 27.8% by Q4 2023 (CAK).
- M-Pesa’s share declined from 92% to about 66% over the same period.
- Transaction Volume:
- By 2023, Airtel Money was processing over 60 million transactions per month, more than doubling its previous year’s performance.
- Agent Network Expansion:
- Airtel expanded from 18,000 agents in 2020 to over 70,000 agents by the end of 2023.
- Pricing Disruption:
- Airtel offered zero fees for P2P transfers and up to 40% lower withdrawal costs compared to M-Pesa.
- Its merchant solution, Airtel Money Pay, eliminated transaction fees—making it particularly attractive to small business owners.
What Challenger Brands Can Learn
- Don’t Try to Out-MTN MTN
Just as Airtel didn’t try to copy M-Pesa’s entire ecosystem, don’t clone the big brand. Instead:
- Focus on specific user pain points like high fees, poor service in rural areas, and slow dispute resolution.
- Lean into simplicity, affordability, and community-based innovation.
- Interoperability is a Feature, Not a Threat
Airtel Kenya fully embraced interoperability, giving users the freedom to move funds between platforms easily. That removed one of M-Pesa’s traditional lock-in advantages.
In Ghana, where interoperability is mandated, Challengers can differentiate by making it delightful.
- Remove friction.
- Incentivize cross-network transactions.
- Market it as financial inclusion in action.
- Win With the Underserved
Airtel didn’t chase Nairobi’s affluent customers; it targeted peri-urban and rural users, SMEs, and savings groups. These are often the most frustrated by dominant platforms.
In Ghana, susu groups, school fee collectors, market women, and the informal sector form a similar untapped segment. Design for them, and they’ll bring scale organically.
- Rethink Agent Strategy
Instead of racing in agent numbers, Airtel focused on quality, reach, and reliability of agents in underserved regions.
Challenger brands should:
- Identify high-friction cash areas (markets, remote towns).
- Offer better commissions, loyalty incentives, and smart POS solutions.
- Train agents as community educators on mobile financial services.
- Bundle Financial Services Creatively
Airtel partnered with banks and fintechs for micro-loans, savings wallets, and remittances directly within Airtel Money.
Challenger Brands could lead in:
- Digital susu platforms.
- Group savings tools for associations.
- Microinsurance via telco partnerships.
Caveat: Market Share ≠ Market Value—Yet
While Airtel has clawed back agent and transaction share, M-Pesa still controls over 85% of the value processed—translating to over KSh 8 trillion (~$60B) in 2023 alone.
The real prize isn’t just in the number of users—it’s in the total value flowing through the ecosystem.
For Challenger Brands, the goal must be to win not just wallets—but trust.
Successful Challengers in Africa
Orange vs MTN in West Africa (especially Côte d’Ivoire & Mali)
The Landscape:
- Côte d’Ivoire’s mobile money market is split between Orange Money and MTN.
- Orange Money has often led with stronger agent networks and cross-border payment services (especially useful in UEMOA francophone countries).
Challenger Moves:
- Orange introduced innovations like savings wallets and credit scoring-based loans before MTN in some markets.
- Focused heavily on integration with regional remittance systems, giving them an edge with migrant workers and traders.
Lesson:
Challengers win when they build beyond payments into full financial ecosystems and use regional integrations to create cross-border dominance.
Wave vs Orange in Senegal & Ivory Coast
The Landscape:
- Wave, a U.S.-backed fintech, entered francophone West Africa in 2020, where Orange dominated.
Challenger Moves:
- Zero or near-zero transaction fees, sleek UX, and QR-code-based payments disrupted Orange’s legacy model.
- Aggressive agent acquisition and low-tech user experience (simple app + USSD) worked brilliantly in low-income areas.
Results:
- In Senegal, Wave reached over 50% of mobile money market share by 2022.
- Forced Orange to slash mobile money fees and update its digital offering.
Lesson:
A well-capitalized challenger that undercuts pricing and improves UX can move from outsider to market leader fast—even in highly regulated environments.
Safaricom Ethiopia: The Disruptor Becomes the Challenger
The Landscape:
- After dominating in Kenya, Safaricom launched in Ethiopia in 2022 to challenge state-owned Ethio Telecom.
Challenger Moves:
- Introduced M-Pesa in 2023, aiming to disrupt an underserved mobile money market.
- Leaned into international credibility, partnerships, and the promise of better service.
Challenges:
- Ethio Telecom responded with its own mobile money platform, Telebirr, which quickly gained 30M+ users by offering zero-cost government services.
Lesson:
Even a giant like Safaricom becomes the underdog in a new market—and success depends on local partnerships, regulatory navigation, and ecosystem fit.
Final Word: You Don’t Need to Be First to Be Formidable
Airtel Money’s resurgence proves that dominance can be disrupted with the right mix of:
- Smart partnerships,
- Value-based pricing,
- Community focus,
- And relentless execution.
and any challenger telco—has the opportunity to reframe the game in their favor. They don’t need to beat MTN at being MTN.
They need to be better at being the telco that listens, adapts, and delivers differently.