The new basket of goods and services also included mobile money transfer service, which was conceived in 2008 and has since spawned Kenya’s cashless economy. Every month Mr Oketch also sends a tidy sum to his mother upcountry for upkeep using M-Pesa, a mobile money service owned by telecommunications provider Safaricom. Almost immediately, Safaricom and Airtel, two of the country’s major telecommunications providers, increased their calling and mobile money charges. And increasingly, without airtime or money in your mobile money wallet, you could easily miss a friend’s wedding or fail to remit contribution for a relative’s funeral. Airtime, mobile money transactions and internet services, unlike other excisable goods such as jewellery, alcohol, soda, bottled water, are not a luxury.

Source: Standard Digital June 29, 2021 06:00 UTC