Sumitomo Corporation is managing Kenya's largest telecommunications carrier Safaricom Plc (hereinafter 'Safaricom'), which is affiliated with Vodafone Group Plc (hereinafter 'Vodafone'), a major British telecommunications carrier, and Kenya's mobile money company, which is under Safaricom.
In collaboration with business operator M-PESA Africa Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'M-PESA') (hereinafter referred to as 'three companies'), we are implementing an accelerator program (Note 1) targeting the fintech field (hereinafter referred to as 'this initiative'). ).In Kenya, it is said that more than 1,000 startups are born every year, and many of them are in the fintech field due to the high need for financial services and the high penetration rate of mobile money. Through this initiative, the three companies will discover excellent startups, jointly create new businesses, and aim to build a new digital economic zone in Africa, which has attracted increasing attention as a part of the global south in recent years.
Payment situation in Africa
In addition to the fact that banking networks are not widespread in Africa, the convenience of payments is extremely low, and even if they have a moderate income, there are many people who are unable to obtain credit and access financial services because their income is not stable. The challenge is what we are doing. In recent years, with the expansion of communication infrastructure and the use of tech data, it has become possible to use financial services (installment sales, etc.) using fintech, in addition to payments and remittances using mobile money. In fact, in Kenya, M-PESA's mobile money service plays the role of a bank, and a variety of services using M-PESA are being developed, making it an essential part of people's lives.
Aim of this initiative
Safaricom is the largest telecommunications carrier in Kenya with over 45 million customers, and in Ethiopia, together with Sumitomo Corporation, it operates the integrated telecommunications company Safaricom Ethiopia. M-PESA also provides Africa's largest mobile money service, used by 60 million people in eight African countries, and has a particularly strong business base in Kenya.
We will create innovative businesses by combining these strong business foundations in telecommunications, mobile money, financial services, etc. with our wide range of business experience and the products and services of cutting-edge startups that we will encounter through this initiative. While supporting the expansion of the startup market, we will expand digital financial services in Africa by providing highly convenient services to more people. We aim to create new businesses in areas where the three companies' knowledge and networks can be leveraged, such as e-commerce, insurance, education and entertainment, and will expand to African countries in the future.
Through this initiative, the three companies will build a new digital economic zone in Africa, contributing to the development of the African economy, human resource development, and the realization of a more prosperous life for people.
Sumitomo Corporation and Vodafone collaborate in communications and digital fields
Sumitomo Corporation and Vodafone entered into a strategic partnership in November 2020, and agreed to jointly advance business in Africa, mainly in the telecommunications and fintech fields. In 2021, as the first step in our collaboration, we acquired Ethiopia's first private telecommunications operator license and established a telecommunications company, Safaricom Ethiopia. Business began in earnest in October 2022. In the second part of the collaboration, in August 2023, DABCO, a subsidiary of Vodafone, which operates PAIRPOINT (Note 2), a digital platform where devices communicate with each other using SIM cards and conduct transactions such as payments, will We have invested in Limited (Dabco). Additionally, in May 2023, we will make an additional investment in M-KOPA, which develops digital financial services using mobile money in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, and will jointly develop M-KOPA services in countries and regions where Vodafone operates. We are promoting this.
This initiative is the third collaboration with Vodafone, and we will continue to bring together our respective business bases and know-how and explore collaborations mainly in Europe and Africa to develop local communities and economies and solve social issues. I'll work on it.
SUMITOMO CORPORATION 
