M-KOPA Hits 3 million Active Customers Milestone as 9/10 Report Improved Quality of Life
Fintech pioneer deploys $2 billion in credit to Africa’s “Every Day Earners” – micro entrepreneurs invisible to traditional banks
M-KOPA, Africa’s leading inclusive fintech, has surpassed 3 million active customers for the first time – a milestone that puts the company on track to serve 10 million Every Day Earners by the end of the decade.
According M-KOPA’s 2025 Impact Report reveals that 9 out of 10 active customers now say M-KOPA has improved their lives, up from 8 out of 10 last year. Since 2011, M-KOPA has reached 7 million total customers and deployed over $2 billion in credit to hardworking micro-entrepreneurs in the informal sector who are typically locked out by traditional financial services.
M-KOPA Co-Founder & CEO Jesse Moore said that what matters most to them is how many people M-KOPA is actively serving every day including those who stay engaged with them over time. He announced that this year’s M-KOPA active customer number reached 3 million for the first time.
“When we ask customers ‘does M-KOPA make your life better?’ 9 out of 10 say yes. That’s tangible and meaningful impact on millions of lives.” he said.
He added that M-KOPA serves Every Day Earners – people who make their income daily in Africa’s vast informal sector but remain unseen by conventional financial services designed for salaried workers. The company addresses a critical gap in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of the population has internet coverage, but only 27% can afford to access it.
Since 2020 M-KOPA has enabled 2.5 million first-time smartphone users, with 81% of women customers reporting they couldn’t afford a smartphone without M-KOPA. For 55% of customers, M-KOPA represents their first access to any formal financial product, while 67% are accessing health insurance for the first time.
Through its “More than a Phone” platform, 70% of customers use their M-KOPA smartphone to generate income and 59% report higher earnings since ownership.
M-KOPA’s approach operates across five interconnected pillars that scale individual inclusion into community transformation:
- Included: 55% accessing their first formal financial product; $2 billion deployed to over 7 million everyday earners.
- Connected: 2.5 million first-time smartphone users since 2020; 40% first time smartphone users in 2025 demonstrating affordable access remains critical.
- Prosperous: 70% use smartphones for income generation; 59% report higher earnings since ownership.
- Sustainable: 4,000+ electric motorbikes financed, & 127,700 circular economy products resulting in 46,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided.
- Local Markets: Over 35,000 agents (17% growth), with 57% reporting M-KOPA as their first income opportunity.
In 2024, M-KOPA’s local procurement spend totalled $236 million across all markets. Women represent 45% of M-KOPA’s agent network and 40% of all customers, with 86% reporting improved quality of life.
According to the Impact Report 2025, in a message from the M-Kopa Board Chair, he noted that M-Kopa in the past year has reaffirmed the transformative power of access to technology, to financial services, and to opportunity hence it remains focused on unlocking that access for Africa’s Every Day Earners including the boda riders, shopkeepers, teachers, tailors among others others who make up the fabric of the continent’s economies.
In terms of the Technology, he added that M-Kopa Smartphones has embedded with financial services. Our “More Than a Phone” platform has transformed how customers use their devices. “We’re not simply providing affordable devices, we’re delivering pathways to financial inclusion that unlock progress in our customers’ lives and businesses. For example, we are proud to have delivered more than 1 million hospitalization insurance policies over the past 12 months, which
come embedded in M-KOPA-branded smartphones”.
Aligned to Democracy, M-kopa has Gender inclusion with funding support from the Gates
Foundation and it’s targeted gender initiatives, women now make up 40% of it’s active customers and 45% of M-Kopa agents making M-Kopa to see this as both a responsibility and an opportunity. He noted that Women are often excluded from the digital economy, yet M-Kopa data shows they consistently excel across key metrics. Closing this closes the gap by doing the right thing while it also strengthens the business.
Under responsible finance, M-KOPA as a customer-centered fintech in emerging markets ensures that their responsibility is to protect their customers, uphold ethical practices, and build public confidence. Safeguards are embedded into their credit journey from pricing to privacy to ensure fairness, transparency, and support at every step.
As of 2025, M-KOPA unlocked more than $2 billion in credit across five African markets.
In it’s Impact Report 2025, through it’s daily device repayments, customers build trust and access digital loans5 and insurance from working capital for small businesses to health insurance for emergencies. M-KOPA digital loans expand financial services to the traditionally overlooked. In our 2025 impact survey, 38% of customers reported that their M-KOPA digital loan was their first formal loan (43% for women).
Approximately 67% of customers reported that the M-KOPA health insurance is their first health insurance. 65% of our surveyed health insurance customers previously had harmful coping mechanisms (borrowing money, selling assets, cutting back on food, or delaying medical treatment) to cover medical costs. 28% of surveyed customers (40% women vs. 21% men) shared that they purchased their phone from M-KOPA because it included health insurance.
Sekabira, machine operator and a long-term M-KOPA customer from Uganda acknowledged that “What really sets M-KOPA apart is their model. They provide you with the product up front, you pay a deposit, and then make affordable daily payments. That level of flexibility is why I prefer M-KOPA over going to a moneylender or bank.”
Sarah, hair stylist and M-KOPA customer based in Kenya while sharing her social impact journey with M-KOPA, she said, “The biggest impact was the medical insurance. I used to have other health insurance, but when I got sick, it wasn’t working. M-KOPA’s health insurance returned $39 to me when my other insurance completely failed me. M-KOPA insurance worked when I really needed it.”
Unlocking women’s financial power
Women face persistent barriers to digital and financial access that are rooted in affordability, skills, and opportunity gaps. Since 2024, gender inclusion has been a core strategic objective across all markets, with a goal of reaching 50% female customers. We have sustained the progress made in 2024: women represent 40% of the active customers in 2025.
M-KOPA Top achievements in 2025
- Our impact continues to scale: We have now disbursed >$2 billion in credit to >7 million Every Day Earners (up from $1.5 billion to 5 million customers in 2024).
- Our impact continues to deepen: 86% of customers say that their quality of life has improved with M-KOPA (up from 79% in 2024). 70% report using their product to generate income (up from 62% in 2024), and 83% say their ability to care for themselves and their families has improved (a new measure).
- We are reaching the traditionally excluded: 55% of our customers say they’re accessing a product or service for the first time from M-KOPA(up from 45% in 2024). Our customer gender gap is
reducing across all markets (though it is flat overall at 40%, due to market diversification). Women have grown from 41% to 45% of our agent force. - We are pioneering climate solutions: We have financed our first 4,000+ e-motorbikes, which reduce CO₂ and toxic air pollution by 90% while saving more than $5 a day. We have sold our first 60,000 second-life devices, which drive affordability and inclusion while reducing e-waste and the carbon footprint of digital inclusion.
M-KOPA Top areas of focus for 2026 and The Way Forward
- M-KOPA aims to Expand access and equity: Continue to grow our female customer base and female agent network to 50+%. Broaden value-added services across our markets that make life more affordable and secure for Every Day Earners.
- Scale climate solutions: Scale our e-mobility business across Kenya and other markets, continue
to advance the circular economy ecosystem for smartphones, and commit to company decarbonization targets. - Deliver operational excellence: Driving efficiencies and partnerships to reduce costs
over time
M-KOPA operates across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, and employs over 2,000 full time staff and 35,000 sales agents across the continent. The company has been recognized by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies for four consecutive years and by CNBC as one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies 2025.
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