Moroke Sekoboto
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant, Vodacom Lesotho, has been hailed for changing Basotho’s lives through its mobile money platform, M-Pesa.
Different testimonies poured out on Monday night when Vodacom celebrated a decade of the existence of M-Pesa.
It was a night of glitz and glamour as Vodacom staff and M-Pesa merchants and agents, as well as the media, commemorated this 10-year milestone.
Vodacom’s female employees were elegantly dressed in traditional Seshoeshoe dresses, while the men wore their Se-a-na-marena blankets. Other patrons were dressed to kill and each guest was presented with a Basotho hat upon arrival at the venue.
Despite the chilly breeze that swept across the Victory Hall in Maseru where the event was held, patrons still danced the cold away.
Famo star, Thope tse Khang, gave a killer performance that had everybody dancing and singing along, while wordsmith, Teboho Rantsoaebe, captivated all with his poem that praised the existence of M-Pesa and how the platform had made life easy for everyone in Lesotho. Jam Sessions deejays also ensured they kept guests on their feet in-between speeches by belting out popular Famo and Amapiano tunes.
Jazz outfit, Y4, rolled down the curtains through their captivating performance of slow, soothing sounds.
M-Pesa was established in 2013 as a money-transfer platform though the use of a cell-phone. Later on, it introduced services such as paying for utilities, products, across-the-counter sales, savings and insurance, among others. M-Pesa now has over 12 000 agents across the country.
Vodacom Lesotho chief executive officer (CEO), Mahale Ralebitso, gave the first speech at the event as he revelled in the support the company continues to receive from Basotho. He said Vodacom was now able to serve over 50-percent of the population through M-Pesa.
“Over one million Basotho use M-Pesa and that has resulted into over M1 billion being transacted through this M-Pesa platform every month,” Mr Ralebitso said.
“You would recall how difficult it was in the past to open a bank account, but with this initiative, one just needs a cellphone which almost every person owns nowadays.
“We would like to commend our M-Pesa merchants and agents as we would not have realised this milestone without them.”
One of the top M-Pesa agents, Khoto Qoachela, a street vendor from Maseru, said he started his M-Pesa business in 2013 with only M200, but now manages more than M10 000 from time to time to serve his customers.
“At first, we feared being scammed of our monies because we did not understand how money could be put into a phone and then transferred or used to pay for several services. I then tested the waters with just M200 in 2013. However, my M-Pesa business has grown so much that there is never a time that I load less than M10 000 into my agent account.
“I now have a bakkie which I won through M-Pesa competitions. M-Pesa has really changed my life as I make enough profit to put bread on the table and send the children to school,” Mr Qoachela said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Rethabile Pule of PicknPay, said M-Pesa is a convenient and innovative product that helps their customers to purchase without having to carry cash.
“Transacting has never been this easy since the introduction of M-Pesa. We were reluctant, at first, to have it in our stores but after being taken though its use and having realised how much convenience it has brought to our customers, we are proud to say M-Pesa has changed the way we do business.
“It is quite helpful as customers do not have to queue to withdraw funds at our agent before buying, as they can now pay directly at the tills using the pay merchant product,” Mr Pule said.
On the other hand, the government’s Department of Social Development also hailed M-Pesa. A government employee, Lerato Khitšane, said they started using M-Pesa last year to pay social grants to senior citizens and this had created a lot of convenience for the government and beneficiaries.
“We used to carry large sums of money to different parts of the country to pay the old-age grants and other social development beneficiaries. M-Pesa has been very helpful not only to us, but the beneficiaries too, who used to travel long distances, sometimes in bad weather, to get to where we would be disbursing the funds,” Ms Khitšane said.
Local technology company, Enigma, also praised M-Pesa saying they were able to offer different services through it such as events ticket sales though their mobile phone platform, Ticket Box.
Vodacom Lesotho Managing Director- Vodacom Financial Services, Palesa Mphunyetsane, on her part, expressed appreciation to the agents, media and customers for their support since the inception of M-Pesa.
“The purpose of today’s event is to celebrate with us the amazing product which has changed people’s lives. The product was established in 2013 and improved services over the years.
“We are grateful to the media as we worked together hand-in-hand especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The people did not understand the product at first, but with continued support from the media, which has been disseminating information about this product, they ended up understanding it. Besides the car competitions referred to earlier, M-Pesa has also donated three computer labs to three schools in the country.
“I am grateful to the agents, staff, the CEO and his team and our partners who are here with us in these harsh weather conditions,” Ms Mphunyetsane said.
