Miraa trader wins third M-Pesa apartment

Jeniffer, a single mother of three among 185,000 women who transitioned from farming to business as a result of M-PESA

Nairobi, Kenya –Safaricom (NSE: SCOM) has today unveiled the third apartment winner in the ongoing Maisha Ni M-PESA Tu Promotion.

Jeniffer Kathure, a single mother of three from Muthara, Meru County and a resident of Narok town is the new homeowner of the KES 7.8 million apartment located in Nairobi’s Kahawa West estate, off Thika Road and the Eastern Bypass. The 40-year-old is a businesswoman in the agribusiness sector and has been sourcing for Khat in Meru County to resell to retailers in Narok.

“I moved to Narok town in 2010 and dipped my toes in the business sector as a coffee trader. In 2013, I transitioned to khat trading which sees me spending my time between Meru and Narok Counties. M-PESA has made it possible to run my business as it allows me to receive payment from my customers in Narok while sourcing from farmers in Meru,” said Jeniffer.

Jeniffer says that she relies on M-PESA for her financial needs including paying of school fees. She has also been saving on M-Shwari and borrowing from the service to supplement her income in low business days or to support her community when neighbours approach her for financial assistance.

“Research by economists from MIT and Georgetown University found that M-PESA had lifted more than 194,000 Kenyan families out of extreme poverty and helped more than 185,000 women transition from farming to business occupations[1]. Today, we are glad to put a name to one of these entrepreneurial women, Jeniffer, and to reward her with an apartment for her trust and loyalty,” said Charles Kare, Acting Director – Consumer Business, Safaricom.

Jeniffer becomes the third apartment winner in the ongoing Maisha na M-PESA promotion. Previous winners include James Njagi, a metal artisan at Gikomba market and Eric Lindenberg, a South African designer resident in Nairobi.

In addition to the three apartments, more than 190,000 M-PESA customers and 1,900 agents have won instant prizes including cash and float amounts of KES 2,000, KES, 5,000 and KES 10,000.

The promotion began just over four weeks ago and seeks to reward M-PESA’s more than 28.6 million customers and 150,000 agents with KES 300 million in prizes. Seven lucky customers and eight lucky agents stand to win an apartment and KES 1 million in float respectively.