Another risky step Kenya is taking in its digital transformation agenda is to connect more of its digital services to M-PESA, the country’s popular mobile money platform. It is likely to make access to government services easier for millions of citizens, and, as a result, Kenya will be better positioned as a technology-driven country in terms of fintech-related innovation in Africa.
The goal of the integration, which is being driven by collaboration between government agencies and Safaricom, is to facilitate real-time payment for services offered on websites like eCitizen. In passport applications and in registering businesses, Kenyans can now do business transactions right away through their mobile phones when it comes to land searches as well as the NTSA services.
According to the officials, the integration will do away with queuing in the government offices and decrease the use of cash transactions that can easily be compromised by fraud and leakages. The government hopes that it can capture more revenue through the increased transparency and accountability during revenue collection through the massive network of over 30 million users and thousands of agents across the country on M-PESA.
The move is more significant to the citizens who live in rural and remote areas. Through simple access to mobile phones, users will be in a position to pay for their services without having to go far to Huduma Centres or banks. This is in line with the wider Kenya digital economy strategy, which aims at broadening financial inclusion as well as the digitization of public services.
Observers note that linking digital government services to the M-PESA enhances the cashless economy vision of Kenya. This new move only solidifies the status of the country as a fintech powerhouse since the country has long been known as a pioneer in mobile money in the world.
It will also benefit the small businesses and startups since with the ease of payment, more entrepreneurs will be willing to formalize their businesses using government portals.
With Kenya increasingly becoming digital in its ministries and agencies, analysts believe that cybersecurity and data protection measures should also keep up. Under the proper management, the M-PESA integration may represent a new dawn in the way how the citizens communicate with the state, quicker, easier, and all in the palm of their hand.
Providing that the initiative is implemented successfully, it is going to help not only to improve the service delivery but also to shape the future of digital governance in Kenya.
