M-Pesa Africa Managing Director, Mr. Sitoyo Lopokoiyit is to be inducted in the 11:FS Hall of Fame for his role in driving financial inclusion across Africa through M-Pesa.
The mobile financial services expert has directly been responsible for managing and growing M-PESA in 7 markets in Africa.
For his exploits in the last 12 years at M-Pesa, Mr. Sitoyo is being immortalized in the world of fintech alongside two others. The Kenyan has made the 2023 list that has Sopnendu Mohanty from Singapore and Anne Boden from the United Kingdom.
M-Pesa has long been taunted as the genesis of mobile money solutions. The success of the platform has spurred the growth of digital innovations and has put Kenya on the spotlight as a tech hub for the last 18 years. Hence, it no surprise that the M-Pesa Africa boss is being feted.
The 11:FS Hall of Fame celebrates individuals worldwide who are positively influencing the digital finance industry. It is run by the 11:FS, an institution that has knowledge of the banking and digital finance world. Its experts have successfully launched over 20 global ventures.
It is expected that Mr. Sitoyo will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on November 15. This will be during the 11:FS annual awards which are just in their second year. This puts the M-Pesa MD among the pioneer inductees.
It will be a recognition of the CEO’s efforts to grow M-Pesa user base to 56 million customers.
M-Pesa’s Journey Under Sitoyo
M-Pesa has grown to be more than just a peer to peer platform to send and receive money. The M-Pesa API ecosystem has over 70,000 developers who have successfully integrated the mobile money platform with other digital solutions. The platform supports over 1 million businesses.
M-Pesa has also grown in terms of revenue and transactions volume. In the last financial year ending March, the platform contributed to about 40% of Safaricom PLC earnings.
Credit facilities that are part of the platform have been introduced under Mr. Sitoyo. Fuliza for example has disbursed KES 701.5 billion since its launch in 2018.
M-Pesa is also the first mobile money platform to introduce standing orders feature.
The mobile money platform has also grown beyond Africa through partnerships like the recent one with Visa. M-Pesa also partners with other global players such as PayPal and Google.
While he continues to drive the expansion of the M-Pesa ecosystem, Mr. Sitoyo has also dedicated his time to several company boards in Africa. His recognition by 11:FS is hallmark of M-Pesa achievements in driving financial inclusion.
