Agent 0001

Meet Esther Muchemi: Kenya's first mobile money agent

[...]In 2007, Safaricom launched a service that allowed people to send money without needing a bank account.

And on Friday (March 7th), M-PESA will turn 18 - so it’s fully an adult now.

But M-PESA’s success wasn’t built on just tech. It’s built on people - or in this case, agents.[...]

[...]The first M-PESA agents were the real MVPs. They had to build trust, educate customers, and prove that mobile money could work.

Many customers were skeptical at first—how could money be stored on a phone? Would it be safe?

Many initial transactions failed due to poor network connectivity, and even Safaricom wasn’t sure if it would take off.

As Agent 0001, Esther and her team spent hours answering questions, troubleshooting system glitches, and reassuring users.

Some days, she barely made any transactions. But she persisted.[...]

[...]Right place, right time, right person
Esther had already proven her instincts were sharp; first by betting on Safaricom over Kencell, then by embracing M-PESA before the rest of the market caught on.

She saw that Safaricom wasn’t just selling SIM cards—it was building an ecosystem. [...]


https://techsafari.beehiiv.com/p/agent-0001