18 February 2021

Mobile Money (MoMo) usage in Kenya has exploded by 26.17% in 2020 compared to 2019 - with a financial value of US$45.3bn between January and November, as nationals followed  government payment recommendations to curb the spread of Covid-19.  

According to data from the Central Bank of Kenya, the mobile money segment has benefited greatly from the coronavirus crisis to the detriment of that of bank cards. The number of transactions, which was 1.7 billion from January to November 2019, rose to 4.4 billion during the same period in 2020. That is a growth of 160.45%.

The financial value of these transactions amounted to Ksh5,000bn (US$45.3bn) against Ksh3,962.834bn (US$35.9bn) in 2019. This represents a growth of 26.17% driven by the recent message of the president Uhuru Kenyatta, March 20, 2020. He urged people across the country to adopt mobile payments to help curb the spread of the virus. The number of subscribers has also increased from 58.039 million in November 2019 to 65.766 million in November 2020.