Pan-African fintech M-KOPA has reached 10 million customers across five African markets, highlighting how smartphone financing has become a key driver of digital lending and financial inclusion for consumers traditionally excluded from formal banking.
The company said it is now adding about 10,000 customers a day across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. After taking eight years to reach its first one million customers in 2020, M-KOPA has added another nine million in just six years following its expansion into smartphone financing, underscoring the rapid adoption of its lending model.
Unlike traditional consumer lenders, M-KOPA uses financed smartphones as the entry point to a broader financial services platform. Its “More than a Phone” offering combines smartphone financing with embedded insurance, digital credit and device protection, allowing customers to build repayment histories that can unlock access to additional financial products.
The company said it has now unlocked more than $2 billion in credit while processing more than 2 million customer payments every day, making it one of Africa’s largest digital consumer lending platforms.
“Every Day Earners have always been creditworthy. What they needed was credit built around how they really make a living, not a payslip. Informal has never meant unviable. Ten million customers on, that’s no longer a belief. It’s proven,” said Jesse Moore, M-KOPA’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
M-KOPA’s business targets what it calls “Every Day Earners”—including traders, boda boda riders, tailors and shopkeepers—whose incomes are generated daily but who often lack access to conventional financial services. The company said nearly nine in ten workers in sub-Saharan Africa earn their livelihoods in the informal economy, presenting a significant market for alternative credit models. It also cited independently commissioned surveys showing nine out of ten customers said its products had improved their lives.
Growth beyond East Africa has accelerated in recent years. M-KOPA said Nigeria became the fastest market in its history to surpass one million customers. Its distribution network has expanded to more than 40,000 sales agents across five countries, while its Nairobi smartphone assembly plant has produced more than 3.3 million devices since opening in 2023 and employs over 400 people.
The fintech said revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 50% since 2020, earning it a place on the Financial Times’ list of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for five consecutive years and CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies ranking for the second straight year.
“Every Day Earners are why we do this. From our very first customer to this year’s ten millionth, this is proof that a model built for Africa’s Every Day Earners doesn’t just work, it scales and endures. It’s a proud moment for our team, and we’re already looking to the next 10 million,” said Faraimose Kutadzaushe, M-KOPA’s Chief Financial Officer.
The milestone underscores how smartphones are evolving beyond communication devices to become the foundation for digital lending across Africa, enabling fintech firms to extend credit, insurance and other financial services to millions of consumers who have historically lacked access to formal banking.