M-KOPA, a fintech platform that provides digital credit to underbanked customers, recently announced the release of its 2021 Impact Report.
According to the impact report, M-KOPA unlocked $600 million worth of credit for customers by the end of 2021 and improved 4.5 million lives through life-changing products.
The report also presents findings on M-KOPA’s smartphone, solar, and cash loan customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana. While much of the impact has been realized in East Africa, M-KOPA recorded rapid growth following its expansion into West Africa in 2020/21.
The report further highlights M-KOPA’s social and environmental impact at the end of 2021. The fintech platform was able to sell over 1 million solar home systems avoiding 2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. Additionally, through M-KOPA, over 1 million individuals were able to access high-quality smartphones enabling access to information and earning opportunities online.
As a mission-driven company, M-KOPA’s tremendous growth is rooted in its commitment to both commercial and social goals.
Despite the COVID-19-induced economic instability, M-KOPA defied worldwide trends and generated a sizable amount of high-quality jobs in 2020 and 2021. Between 2019 and 2021, the fintech company’s full-time workforce more than quadrupled, adding 944 new jobs. Additionally, between 2019 and 2021, the number of M-KOPA sales agents who actively engage local residents in the business’s primary markets quadrupled to 10,000 agents.
Founded in 2011, M-KOPA offers millions of people access to life-enhancing products and services, such as smartphones, solar lighting, solar-powered appliances, cash loans, and health insurance by unlocking affordable credit.
The platform served 2 million customers as of March 2020, and with impact and inclusion still at the heart of its goal, M-KOPA aims to grow that number by a factor of ten over the following five years.