Safaricom PLC said on Tuesday that its newly upgraded API platform, Daraja 3.0, is poised to drive the next phase of digital innovation across Kenya, as M-PESA daily transactions exceed 100 million and API usage continues to rise across sectors.
Speaking at an Integrators Breakfast in Nairobi, Chief Financial Services Officer Esther Waititu said that 25% of all M-PESA transactions are now processed through APIs, underscoring their expanding role in embedded finance, real-time payments and system integration.
“Daraja 3.0 is a gateway to the next frontier of fintech. By empowering developers secure, scalable, and intuitive tools, we are unlocking new possibilities in digital finance and financial wellness. Developers play a critical role in the M-PESA ecosystem Developers play a critical role in the M-PESA ecosystem and as we celebrate 25 years, we look forward to shaping the next era together,” said Esther Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom PLC.
She added that APIs as “a significant digital asset,” enabling cost efficiency, data-driven innovation and seamless interoperability for businesses, developers and government agencies.
Safaricom said its fintech ecosystem now supports over 50 million customers, more than 1.9 million merchants, over 66,000 API integrations, and a growing developer community of more than 100,000. Rising adoption of digital financial services has pushed M-PESA’s daily transactions beyond the 100 million mark, with current system capacity handling 6,000 transactions per second.
Global API trends point to continued acceleration. According to data shared in the presentation, large enterprises accounted for 30% of API marketplace revenue in 2024, payment APIs are projected to grow at 36% annually by 2030, and companies using APIs achieve 52.1% faster time-to-market. Africa’s fintech market is expected to expand fivefold by 2028.
Safaricom highlighted that its M-PESA 2.0 fintech platform has evolved beyond peer-to-peer transfers into a comprehensive ecosystem offering payments, credit, insurance, remittances, loyalty services, wealth products, e-commerce and mini-apps for both consumers and merchants.
Daraja 3.0, the centrepiece of the company’s API strategy, introduces advanced artificial intelligence capabilities for fraud detection and hyper-personalisation, along with self-service developer tools and stronger governance. The platform is designed to autoscale to 12,000 transactions per second, reinforcing Safaricom’s focus on resilience and security.
APIs are also enabling digitisation in the public sector, with platforms such as Gava Connect supporting real-time payment services for government agencies.
Safaricom urged developers, partners and integrators to “co-create boldly” using Daraja 3.0, saying collaboration is essential to unlocking the next wave of African fintech innovation.
The company reaffirmed its ambition to become Africa’s “leading purpose-led technology company by 2030,” driven by innovation, customer obsession and digital financial inclusion.