M-KOPA Kenya, the Kenyan subsidiary of pay-as-you-go startup M-KOPA Holdings, has crossed $1.6 billion (KES 207 billion) in credit given to its customers in East Africa’s largest economy, a milestone that points to how it has become embedded in the country’s consumer credit market.
On Monday, M-KOPA released its first Kenya-focused impact report, tracing how the business has grown from selling solar systems in rural areas to becoming one of Kenya’s biggest lenders to low-income households. M-KOPA told reporters in Nairobi that it has served 4.8 million customers over the past decade and a half, many of them people who have never accessed bank loans.
A large share of that growth has come through smartphones, which is now the company’s flagship product. According to the report, 4.5 million Kenyans have acquired a handset through M-KOPA since 2010, including 2.1 million buying or owning one for the first time.
“Kenya has always been the beating heart of M-KOPA’s progress journey,” said M-KOPA Kenya general manager Martin Kingori. “What matters most is the lived progress of everyday earners—9 out of 10 report an improved quality of life, and more than half are now earning more.”
According to the startup, 37% of customers accessed their first formal loan through M-KOPA, and 68% received their first health insurance cover via its “More than a Phone” platform, which bundles cash loans, insurance, and other essential digital services.
Domestic footprint
The company’s expansion is also reflected in its growing contribution to Kenya’s formal economy. M-KOPA paid KES 3.79 billion ($29.2 million) in taxes in 2024, placing it among the country’s largest private-sector taxpayers, while its KES 20.3 billion ($156.5 million) procurement spend last year supported a network of domestic suppliers.
Its Nairobi phone-assembly line, which M-KOPA describes as the largest in Africa, has so far produced two million devices. The facility also offers training to technicians learning electronics assembly and quality control, a skillset the government hopes to grow as it pushes for more local manufacturing.
The company said it employs 1,320 people directly and works with 14,000 sales agents across the country, many of whom are young Kenyans earning their first steady income.
Growing concerns
While Kenya’s consumer credit market has come under scrutiny in recent years over aggressive collection tactics and indebting low-income earners, M-KOPA insists its model safeguards the rights of users.
The company said its model avoids over-indebtedness by removing hidden fees or penalties for late payments and stopping customers who fall behind from accumulating extra debt.
However, its device-locking feature — which turns off phones or motorbikes when repayments are delayed — remains contentious, but the company argues it prevents customers from being trapped in spiralling balances. Users can also return devices and have their deposit refunded.
EV bet
M-KOPA has also expanded its electric vehicle unit, where the startup has financed more than 5,000 electric motorbikes for riders in Nairobi, using the same pay-as-you-go model to an asset class normally out of reach for most informal workers.
“Reaching 5,000 electric motorbikes demonstrates how M-KOPA’s financing model works across asset classes,” Brian Njao, M-KOPA mobility general manager.
The company said these efforts have cut 2.03 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent since 2010, driven initially by solar products and now by expanded refurbishment of smartphones and EV investment.
