Safaricom Plc Wants to Expand into Insurance, Unit Trust, Savings

Kenya’s biggest telecom company, Safaricom Plc, has indicated interest to further diversify its business operations. The company recently sought regulatory approval to launch three new products in the areas of insurance, savings, and unit trust.

These products –Bima (Insurance), Mali (mobile savings), and a unit trust investment product  – will enable the telecom carrier to consolidate on its already successful M-Pesa fintech business.

Safaricom had, prior to this time, tested the new products in the market. However, they cannot be launched commercially until regular approvals are given by the Central Bank of Kenya, the Insurance Regulatory Authority, and the country’s Capital Markets Authority.

Note that analysts have previously predicted that Safaricom’s continued growth will depend on how successfully the company can expand its M-Pesa project. This is why it is now widening platform to do more than just loan disbursement, sending and receiving money. If the regulatory approvals are given, M-Pesa users will soon be able to (among other things) buy insurance covers and receive wealth management services.

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In the meantime, Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa, has laid the grand plan on how the company will take advantage of M-Pesa’s 26.7 million active customers to grow the savings and insurance products. He also added that the ultimate goal is to broaden M-Pesa into a full-fledged financial services firm that could potentially rival banks.

“We are exploring the area of wealth management. We have developed a couple of products and we are seeking regulatory approval. Until the approval is given, we may not want to announce the specifics of the products,” Ndegwa was quoted to have said, according to a statement seen by Business Elites Africa.