I really respect The Economist trying to write about Fintech in Africa without focusing on M-Pesa. Usually the narrative about Africa is pretty stale. However; this article focuses on M-Kopa, an asset financing company that started out with solar lamps. M-Kopa’s business model focuses on leasing solar lamps to customers for a small deposit, which the customers then supplement with weekly payments to M-Kopa over mobile money. If M-Kopa didn’t receive the money, their technology turned the device off until the next payment. M-Kopa started with the niche of solar lamps and will most likely move into financing dozens of other goods. The Economist article already mentions televisions. What they have achieved with solar is pretty amazing. While the article doesn’t share, I was able to dig up some stats on what M-Kopa has done. A list of their achievements reads like a Kenyan venture capitalist’s wet dream.
- 300K+ live connections
- Geographic mapping
- 10M payments per year
- 1M+ battery readings per day
- Sunshine data from 300K+ rooftops
Those are solid numbers, and they will most certainly improve. When M-Kopa branches out of their niche, in a crossing the chasm technique, they will capitalize on their trusted brand to win new customers. I hope they start attacking other industries soon, and grow their addressable market in large chunks, rather than trying to only maximize their existing market. I’m excited for their future, and I’ll keep my eye on them going forward.