M-KOPA hits 10 million customers as Nigeria emerges its fastest-growing market

Pan-African fintech M-KOPA has reached 10 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, marking a milestone that reflects how quickly smartphone financing has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing financial products.

The company said it took eight years to reach its first one million customers after launching in 2012 as a solar financing business. Since expanding into smartphone financing in 2020, however, it has added another nine million customers in just six years, a pace that illustrates both the scale of demand for device financing and the broader shift in how millions of Africans access credit.

For Nigeria, the milestone carries additional significance. M-KOPA said the country became the fastest market in its history to cross one million customers, highlighting how quickly its financing model has gained traction in Africa’s largest economy.

Unlike conventional lenders that often require salary records or extensive credit histories, M-KOPA builds its products around what it calls “Every Day Earners”, people such as traders, artisans, transport operators and small business owners who earn income daily but are largely excluded from formal financial services.

Its flagship offering combines smartphone financing with embedded services including insurance, device protection and access to credit, allowing customers to acquire devices through instalment payments instead of paying the full cost upfront.

The milestone also underscores how smartphones have evolved from consumer gadgets into financial infrastructure across Africa. For many users, owning a smartphone is increasingly the first step toward accessing digital payments, online commerce, digital banking, remote work opportunities and other financial services.

M-KOPA’s growth in Nigeria shows how device financing is becoming mainstream

Nigeria’s emergence as M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market reflects a broader trend across the country’s fintech ecosystem, where access to smartphones is becoming increasingly important for financial inclusion.

Many digital financial services, from banking apps and digital lending platforms to investment and payment products, depend on smartphone ownership. But with inflation pushing handset prices beyond the reach of many consumers, financing has become an important way to bridge that affordability gap.

Instead of treating phones as ordinary retail products, fintech companies increasingly position them as assets that unlock access to the wider digital economy. That strategy has helped accelerate M-KOPA’s expansion well beyond its original solar business.

Since 2020, the company’s revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 50%, according to the company. It now adds roughly 10,000 new customers every day across its five operating markets.

Beyond financing, M-KOPA has also invested in local manufacturing. In 2023, it opened what it describes as Africa’s largest smartphone assembly facility in Kenya, where more than 400 people are employed, and over 3.3 million devices have been assembled to date.

Similar read: M-KOPA Nigeria provided over ₦231 billion credit to over 1m customers in 2025

The company’s distribution network has also expanded significantly, supported by more than 40,000 sales agents across its markets.

The rapid growth has earned international recognition. M-KOPA has appeared on the Financial Times’ Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies ranking for five consecutive years and was recently named on CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies list for the second straight year.

“Every Day Earners have always been creditworthy. What they needed was credit built around how they really make a living, not a payslip,” Jesse Moore, M-KOPA’s co-founder and CEO, said.

The milestone comes as competition in Africa’s device financing market continues to intensify, with fintechs increasingly viewing smartphone ownership not simply as a retail opportunity but as a gateway to bringing millions of previously underserved consumers into the formal digital financial system.