I wouldnt be so quick to spell doom on vodafone just yet. Other markets are not quite like the Kenyan one. as most multinationals imagined that Kenyans can't handle credit or debit cards and wound up excluding the middle class,equity bank and safaricom embraced them. It was a gap that vodafone filled and the same product has failed spectacularly in Tanzania and South Africa. how do you explain that? On 2/1/12, John Maina <mwasjunior@gmail.com> wrote:
@ Joseph, Larry. Actually I submit to you that the “great” Safaricom is standing on the shoulders of dwarfs...and not just any dwarfs..blind ones!...before you call me a mad man...lets closely examine the situation. Indeed Safaricom has had great success in Kenya a country of 40 million but its product is very relevant to the estimated 3Billion underserved consumers in the world.Instead of exploiting this opportunity and extending the service to all MNO’s across the world, Vodafone has taken a closed loop “in-house” approach extending the service to only its affiliates in select countries. Meanwhile payment companies have quickly seen the global viability of an mpesa type product and are quickly getting the assets in place to offer this functionality to MNO's and banks across the world. If you noticed Visa recently bought Fundamo,a company with a product very similar to Mpesa for $240 Million. MasterCard announced a partnership with Western Union in December among other developments this gives you an indication of where the industry is heading…Soon every MNO in the world will have an "Mpesa" of their own and the payment networks will push for global interoperability…Safaricom with its closed loop approach will be a very very small fish playing only in Kenya...It has won the Kenya market battle..but lost the global war.
-- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke