Safaricom is setting an ambitious target for its flagship mobile money platform, M-PESA, with plans to scale its infrastructure to handle 8,000 transactions per second by 2026. This upgrade aims to meet the rising demand for seamless digital payments as Kenya and the wider African market continue to deepen financial inclusion.
The company has already completed the first phase of the M-PESA upgrade, which doubled capacity to 2,000 transactions per second. This improvement came at a crucial time, considering M-PESA now processes over 74 million transactions daily. The exponential growth in mobile money usage, fueled by e-commerce adoption, cross-border payments, and digital services, makes further expansion essential.
Driving Financial Inclusion and Digital Growth
M-PESA has long stood as the backbone of mobile money in Africa, enabling millions of people to send, receive, and store money securely. By raising transaction capacity, Safaricom not only enhances speed and reliability but also supports the broader goal of financial inclusion. The planned upgrade will allow the system to seamlessly process growing volumes of digital payments, reducing downtime risks and ensuring customers experience uninterrupted service.
Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa, noted that the planned expansion aligns with the company’s strategy to transform M-PESA into a global payments platform. With mobile money penetration in Kenya exceeding 96% of households, scaling capacity will give M-PESA the backbone it needs to keep powering both retail and enterprise-level transactions.
Preparing for the Future of Digital Payments
By targeting 8,000 transactions per second by 2026, Safaricom positions itself ahead of the curve in Africa’s rapidly evolving fintech landscape. The upgrade is not just about keeping pace with demand but also about ensuring M-PESA remains the go-to platform for payments, savings, and credit solutions across multiple markets.
This investment underscores Safaricom’s belief that Africa’s digital economy will only keep expanding. With mobile money becoming central to everyday life, M-PESA’s growth trajectory shows no signs of slowing down. By 2026, the platform may not just be processing payments, it could be setting the global standard for how mobile money platforms scale in emerging markets.
