Vodacom Gives up on M-Pesa in South Africa

Vodacom has officially pulled the plug off for M-Pesa in South Africa after it failed to attract enough business attention in the market, unlike other places like Tanzania and Kenya where it has enjoyed massive growth and public support. According to the Vodacom South Africa CEO, he sees little to no hope of the service attracting numbers to use it as a business or money transfer tool.
In Kenya, where it all started, M-Pesa is the biggest mobile money transfer service. It slowly got adoption by neighboring countries and eventually crossed over to West Africa as a solution for the unbanked, small business and even real banking solutions that include loans and savings.
South Africa’s slow economic growth may be another reason why the service has not picked up well considering a reported growth of only 1% this year.
Vodacom SA assured existing M-Pesa users that their money was safe and everyone would get their money back.