How M-Kopa Reached 7 Million Africans by Blending Smartphones, Digital Credit, and Everyday Financial Access
What began as a solar kit lender is now Africa’s largest phone assembler, offering devices that double as credit hubs and insurance platforms.
In Nairobi, it’s not unusual to meet someone who bought their first smartphone through M-Kopa. What began as a payment plan for solar kits has ballooned into a financing model that has already reached 7 million customers and disbursed over $2 billion in credit across five countries. The device in their pocket is more than a communication tool — it’s a passport into financial services.
The company’s latest figures, released in September 2025, project expansion to 10 million users by 2030. Behind the milestone lies a bigger question: can a phone financing scheme also serve as an engine of financial inclusion in Africa?
From Solar Home Systems to Smart Money
M-Kopa’s story starts in 2011 with off-grid solar products — fridges, TVs, lighting systems — designed for households with no electricity access. But its real leap came five years ago, when it pivoted to smartphone financing.
Today, around 2.5 million people own their first-ever smartphone thanks to M-Kopa’s installment plans. Each device comes preloaded with the company’s Smart Money Platform, bundling affordable credit, health insurance, and device protection. For many, that turns the phone into a financial lifeline.
This embedded model addresses a persistent gap: Africa’s “thin-file” borrowers, people with no formal credit history. By tracking repayment patterns on small loans, M-Kopa builds credit profiles and gradually expands users’ access to more services.
But there’s a catch. To safeguard repayments, M-Kopa can lock borrowers out of their devices when they fall behind. The company avoids late fees but uses digital locks as leverage — a controversial but increasingly common tool in Africa’s device financing market.
Nairobi’s Assembly Plant: Building at Scale
To cement its model, M-Kopa launched a smartphone assembly plant in Nairobi in 2023. In just two years, the facility has produced more than 2 million devices, becoming the largest smartphone assembly plant in Africa by volume.
The factory has created over 400 jobs and earned ISO 9001 quality certification in 2024, signaling compliance with international standards. Local assembly allows tighter control of costs and quality, but also places M-Kopa at the center of Kenya’s growing digital manufacturing push.
The company’s lineup now includes the X20, X2, M10, and S34 smartphones, with new models planned later this year. Devices are sold exclusively through M-Kopa’s agent network in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.
Financing the Expansion
Growth on this scale requires deep-pocketed backers. In 2024, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation committed $51 million to M-Kopa Kenya, while a $202 million syndicated facility led by Standard Bank provided longer-term support.
Such financing underscores how global development institutions see M-Kopa not just as a phone seller, but as an essential bridge to digital and financial inclusion.
Competitive Pressures and Market Risks
M-Kopa’s dominance is far from guaranteed.
- Default risk: Device-locking works, but it carries reputational risks. Restricting access to someone’s only phone can deepen financial stress even as it enforces discipline.
- Rising competition: Rivals like Watu are pouring resources into smartphone loans, overtaking their traditional motorbike financing business. Partnerships such as Jumia–Watu could eat into M-Kopa’s market share.
- Saturation risk: The company may soon exhaust the “low-hanging fruit” of first-time buyers. Reaching the next wave — in more remote or lower-income communities — will test margins and repayment models.
Social Impact: Inclusion, Gender, and Sustainability
The numbers tell part of the story. Over 40% of M-Kopa customers live on $3.20 or less a day, making access to a financed smartphone transformational. Studies suggest such small loans can boost household income, mobile money use, and social networks.
Gender remains a critical frontier. Women are less likely to own smartphones, and M-Kopa’s partnerships with researchers at Yale are exploring ways to expand financing access to them.
On sustainability, M-Kopa has refurbished more than 100,000 phones, with the company claiming that for every 13 devices reused, one tonne of CO₂ is saved.
What Comes Next
M-Kopa CEO Jesse Moore frames the company’s progress as proof of customer trust: “We’re not just selling affordable smartphones. We’re selling financial inclusion tools that transform lives.”
M-Kopa has set a clear goal of reaching 10 million users by 2030, but the path there is not guaranteed. The company faces both opportunities and hurdles that will shape its trajectory.
On the upside, the Nairobi assembly plant positions M-Kopa to scale faster than rivals that rely entirely on imports. Expanding its handset lineup beyond entry-level devices could allow the company to capture middle-income earners who are often left out of financing schemes. Some industry watchers believe M-Kopa could even evolve into a full-fledged digital bank, given how deeply its Smart Money Platform is already embedded in customer transactions.
But there are risks. Regulators in Kenya and Nigeria have begun scrutinizing consumer credit models more closely, raising the prospect of new rules on data use and loan recovery practices. If smartphone prices continue to climb globally, M-Kopa may have to innovate around affordability — possibly through refurbished devices or deeper partnerships with chipmakers. There’s also the competitive threat: telcos and fintechs are circling the same market, and a clash over who controls the “entry point” to financial inclusion in Africa seems inevitable.
Still, the demand side is unmistakable. With 7 million users already and hundreds of millions more still unbanked across the continent, M-Kopa is betting that its model — part phone company, part finance house — will remain indispensable in the years ahead.
Scaling Trust, Not Just Credit
M-Kopa’s growth shows how a simple product — the smartphone — can be leveraged into a platform for inclusion. Yet the strategy relies on delicate balances: enforcing discipline without alienating users, scaling without overstretching, and innovating faster than competitors.
If it can sustain those balances, M-Kopa may not only reach 10 million customers by 2030 but also shape how financial inclusion in Africa is built — one financed phone at a time.
Go to TECHTRENDSKE.co.ke for more tech and business news from the African continent.
Mark your calendars! The TechTrends Pulse is back in Nairobi this October. Join innovators, business leaders, policymakers & tech partners for a half-day forum as we explore how AI is transforming industries, driving digital inclusion, and shaping the future of work in Kenya. Limited slots – Register now – here.
Follow us on WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, and Facebook, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out on any future updates. Send tips to editorial@techtrendsmedia.co.ke
TechTrends Media Podcasts
