Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: gout on May 04, 2016, 11:48:06 AM
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For once we should put our petty corruption and short shortsightedness aside and break up Safaricom, kick out vodafone from M-Pesa and take it global. So many nations would do with mobile money. We can get over 30 in Africa and whole of Caribbean for a start.
This a real chance for a Kenyan firm to go global and solve a real problem.
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how will it happen given that vodacom owns mpesa rights and they claim it developed it. What happened to the kenyans who sued safaricom on mpesa patent?
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how will it happen given that vodacom owns mpesa rights and they claim it developed it. What happened to the kenyans who sued safaricom on mpesa patent?
Sadly, mpesa was a UK development and MJ was initially very much against it when Vodacom first appointed Safcon to roll it out. Sagentia (http://www.sagentia.com/case-study/vodafone-m-pesa-mobile-micro-finance-service-for-emerging-markets/) was tasked for the development.
The problem with taking mpesa global has to do with money laundering, that's why the western countries have completely balked at allowing mobile payment gateways to start up. Imagine Sonko, who has no known source for his immense wealth, proudly declaring "he is the biggest client responsible for the billions of shillings that Safaricom made as profits. (http://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/news/sonko-safaricom-made-their-billions-from-my-cash/)" EDIT: Forgot to add that the USSD security protocol used by mpesa is also really quite weak.
But I agree 100% that Safcom should be split, probably into Telcoms, Banking (mpesa), and ISP for better efficiency. For example, the amount of theft currently going on at Safcon, especially with Mshawri accounts, is too much for Conmemore to handle by himself.
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Maybe it will happen. Maybe not.
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For once we should put our petty corruption and short shortsightedness aside and break up Safaricom, kick out vodafone from M-Pesa and take it global. So many nations would do with mobile money. We can get over 30 in Africa and whole of Caribbean for a start.
This a real chance for a Kenyan firm to go global and solve a real problem.
Other that the obvious difficulty in really kicking out the owners (of the basic idea), is it really the case that it is Vodafone (and not other factors in other countries) that is blocking the widespread use of M-PESA?
See: http://www.financialtechnologyafrica.com/feature-articles/1388/m-pesa-and-beyond-%e2%80%93-why-mobile-money-worked-in-kenya-and-struggles-in-other-markets/
And The Economist:
Dozens of mobile-money systems have been launched, so why has Kenya’s been the most successful? It had several factors in its favour, including the exceptionally high cost of sending money by other methods; the dominant market position of Safaricom; the regulator's initial decision to allow the scheme to proceed on an experimental basis, without formal approval; a clear and effective marketing campaign (“Send money home”); an efficient system to move cash around behind the scenes; and, most intriguingly, the post-election violence in the country in early 2008.
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Mobile-money schemes in other countries, meanwhile, have been held up by opposition from banks and regulators and concerns over money-laundering.
In any case, Vodafone has already "taken it global"---Romania, Afghanistan, etc.
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how will it happen given that vodacom owns mpesa rights and they claim it developed it. What happened to the kenyans who sued safaricom on mpesa patent?
Sadly, mpesa was a UK development and MJ was initially very much against it when Vodacom first appointed Safcon to roll it out. Sagentia (http://www.sagentia.com/case-study/vodafone-m-pesa-mobile-micro-finance-service-for-emerging-markets/) was tasked for the development.
The problem with taking mpesa global has to do with money laundering, that's why the western countries have completely balked at allowing mobile payment gateways to start up. Imagine Sonko, who has no known source for his immense wealth, proudly declaring "he is the biggest client responsible for the billions of shillings that Safaricom made as profits. (http://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/news/sonko-safaricom-made-their-billions-from-my-cash/)" EDIT: Forgot to add that the USSD security protocol used by mpesa is also really quite weak.
But I agree 100% that Safcom should be split, probably into Telcoms, Banking (mpesa), and ISP for better efficiency. For example, the amount of theft currently going on at Safcon, especially with Mshawri accounts, is too much for Conmemore to handle by himself.
It's true about the ownership. What is not clear is if there anything stopping local Kenyan companies from developing their own version that they can try to make global; as applications go, it is not terribly complicated.
The security is definitely lightweight, but it is not difficult to improve, on an application tailored for a smart phone market.
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It's true about the ownership. What is not clear is if there anything stopping local Kenyan companies from developing their own version that they can try to make global; as applications go, it is not terribly complicated.
The security is definitely lightweight, but it is not difficult to improve, on an application tailored for a smart phone market.
Not quite what we're discussing but close: SimbaPay targets Kenyans in the diaspora with bulk cash transfers (http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/SimbaPay-targets-Kenyans-in-the-diaspora/-/1248928/3189018/-/item/1/-/mb3uytz/-/index.html)
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MOON Ki has it right that M-PESA is a niche product that rides on culture. Sambaza concept is a micro-Harambee system where everyone contributes to the neighbor's medical bill. M-KOPA will do very well based on this concept. Micro-lending is the very same model -- promoting business by redressing banking as communal.
OECD and everyone-for-himself societies use plastic and don't need to be spoonfed. Just look at the massive debts in US and China... where is the market there?
Bursary funds (Chacha), etc should also go corporate/private to expand education, agric, etc. If you want financial or economic inclusion -- micros and fringe society (women, youth, peasants, pastoralists,? ) to participate in nation building just redress scary banking halls and collateral with friendly faces (ala Equity) and accessibility (mobile). It's smart branding.
And as noted earlier Safaricom has been primed to reap massive opportunities besides M-PESA. It seems to squander most of those - tech, digital media, entertainment, e-commerce, etc. Equity is going into agribusiness too so the Vodafone "shackles" story is pure baloney.
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How do you make M-Pesa global without owning mobile network?
BTw, we do not live in North Korea or Zimbabwe. How do you nationalise private property in Kenya?
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M-pesa Kenya was an experiment. The success there has banks all across the west very nervous. That success may be largely restricted to Africa where there is a need for an alternative to banks. The money market will make sure it never goes beyond the third world countries.
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How do you make M-Pesa global without owning mobile network?
MVNOs is one way like Equitel. Noone owns a global network without various internetwork agreements.
BTw, we do not live in North Korea or Zimbabwe. How do you nationalise private property in Kenya?
Exactly. Anything anti- free market would torpedo our investor ratings big-time.
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We nationlise it and then run it like a parastatal like Mumuias Sugar Company or even better KQ. After 3 years it will then have to be resqued using public money and it's top managers will be ranking among 10 most rich Africans.
BTw, we do not live in North Korea or Zimbabwe. How do you nationalise private property in Kenya?
Exactly. Anything anti- free market would torpedo our investor ratings big-time.
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M-Pesa is for countries where the banking infrastructure does not cover the common man on the street. If M-Pesa has failed to take off in SA how will it do in a developed country?
Vodacom will discontinue its mobile money service M-Pesa in South Africa after it failed to attract enough support in its slow-growing home market, the telecommunications firm said on Monday.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000201182/vodacom-discontinues-m-pesa-services-in-south-africa
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The internal corruption of Safaricom is slowly starting to leak out:
Safaricom boss says tender losers are using blackmail
Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore has raised the red flag on what he terms migration of “tender war barons” from the public sector to the private sector who are waging a smear campaign and filing multiple lawsuits after losing contracts.
Speaking about a petition filed to the National Assembly by a Mr Michael Ngugi alleging corrupt dealings at Safaricom, Mr Collymore questioned the motive behind the move, claiming there has been a lot of blackmail and intimidation by those who had lost contracts.
“Why is it that you can start to see quite a lot of activity around Safaricom in some of the respectable and less respectable publications? It feels to me like there is a bit of vendetta where people are trying to intimidate Safaricom and it would not surprise me if it would be disgruntled and unscrupulous businessmen who may not have got business because I stand firm,” said Mr Collymore.
He added: “I take a very firm position on integrity and I will never compromise on integrity ... you can intimidate as much as you want but I am still not going to compromise. So if unscrupulous businessmen are attempting to intimidate me either as a person or as a business, it is a futile exercise.”
Mr Collymore’s comments mark the most aggressive response yet by a Kenyan company chief executive surrounding tender wars.
The petition filed on Thursday is accompanied by a leaked draft audit report done by accounting firm KPMG which was commissioned by the CEO to assist in streamlining operations in the company.
On Thursday, the National Assembly Speaker told the House he had received a petition from Mr Ngugi regarding “malpractice and corrupt dealings” by the management of Safaricom.
“The petitioner contends that Safaricom Company Limited is a corrupt institution and there have been many cases of malpractices with regard to procurement of goods and services in particular tender processes, tender awards, unethical practices and governance,” said Mr Muturi.
The petitioner appealed to the National Assembly to swiftly recommend that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission investigate the matter and take action against any official found culpable of malpractice and that a forensic audit be conducted in regard to all tenders by the operator awarded in the last two years.
“You will agree with me that the prayers sought by the petitioner are indeed justifiable before any court and may also be dealt with by the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority. However, Article 95 (2) which provides that the National Assembly deliberates on and resolves issues of concern to the people, obligates the House to also attempt to address such matters, with a view to resolving them,” said Mr Muturi.
Further, Mr Muturi directed the House Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade to consider the petition and report its findings within 60 days in accordance with Standing Order 227 (2). The move mirrors similar petitions done at the height of tender wars in government especially on the Standard Gauge Railway, primary schools laptop project and the port, which resulted in delays in the implementation.
It is only after the intervention by President Uhuru Kenyatta, warning parties involved of dire consequences and potential blacklisting of such tender barons, that matters cooled. The barons seem to have shifted to the private sector, according to players.
In the interview with the Sunday Nation on Saturday, Mr Collymore defended the company’s commitment to the fight against corruption within its ranks, stressing that his commitment had seen him rally other members of the private sector to join in.
“I was the first CEO to go public with the status of my finances. I am not a CEO who says we do not have any wrongdoing within my firm. We fire people every year,” said Mr Collymore.
He also addressed himself to the leak of the audit report by KPMG commissioned by the operator saying the move was suspect as it was done when the report was in its draft stages.
“We commissioned this report and have every intention to act on its findings. But the report was subject to discussions between me and my team as well as our business partners and hence should not be circulated publicly,” said Mr Collymore.
He said the company would take action on the report’s findings but would not make it public.
“If there are criminal acts in it, we will prosecute the suspects,” he said, adding that Safaricom has been in the forefront of pushing for the enactment of the anti-bribery law to punish those engaging in the vice in the private sector.
Safaricom announced full year results for the year ended March 31, 2015 showing a 38 per cent rise in profit after tax from Sh23 billion to Sh31.9 billion, with much of the growth coming from non-voice services.
Its total revenue increased 13 per cent to Sh163.4 billion, with the mobile giant’s customer base growing eight per cent to 23.3 million.
Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Tender-losers-are-using-blackmail--says-Collymore/-/1056/3194766/-/eykh54/-/index.html
An extract of the report Safaricom themselves commissioned.
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