At this year’s Connected Africa Summit 2025, Safaricom’s Head of M-PESA Payments, Victor Odada, delivered an interesting keynote on what the next generation of fintech in Africa looks like.
If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here.
FinTech 2.0 is not just about faster transactions or fancy new apps, according to Odad, who says it is about creating real impact. This is the kind of impact that changes lives, grows businesses and builds stronger communities.
In his keynote, titled “FinTech 2.0: Building Financial Services That Work for Everyone,” Odada laid out a vision focused on:
- Empowering informal businesses
- Enabling SMEs to access sustainable credit
- Addressing financial literacy
- Creating opportunities for youth and women
- Using data responsibly to drive inclusion
Safaricom is already doing this through solutions like Pochi la Biashara, a product designed for micro-traders to manage business finances more effectively. Then there’s Taasi Till Loans, which gives small businesses access to working capital based on their transaction history with no paperwork or collateral required.
You can read more about the revamped business credit solutions by Safaricom here.
“FinTech 2.0 is about measuring success by the futures and lives transformed,” Odada said.
It is a small but important shift from simply enabling transactions to building financial ecosystems that are able to support growth, resilience and dignity. This ensures the benefits can be felt across the ecosystem.
One standout moment during the keynote was Safaricom’s approach to credit scoring. The telco isn’t just using traditional methods such as payslips or credit histories (which many Kenyans don’t have). It is using alternative data like airtime usage, mobile money activity and transaction patterns.
This data helps to create more inclusive and responsible lending models. This is especially important for people previously locked out of the financial system.
Safaricom is also taking fintech into new spaces like agriculture, health, and trade. The company is embedding digital payments and financial tools into these sectors.
What do you think of Safaricom’s FinTech 2.0 vision? Is it the model other African fintechs should follow? Let us know in the comments or tag us on X @TechArena_KE.
