Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of African Media Studies
  4. Volume 13, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 13, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2040-199X
  • E-ISSN: 1751-7974

Abstract

Kenya’s M-Pesa has arguably become the most recognizable symbol of mobile money globally. The success of M-Pesa can be partially attributed to Safaricom’s continuous product innovation. However, few studies have examined the role of M-Pesa employees (called agents) in the adaptation of M-Pesa. To address this gap, we explore the role of M-Pesa agents in Kenya’s mobile money ecosystem by using observations and interviews with agents in Western Kenya. Drawing on technology adaptation and using literature, we explore the role of M-Pesa agents as innovators and facilitators of mobile money services. Findings suggest that although Safaricom expects agents to follow certain protocols, agents revealed that they push back on these expectations by bending corporate procedures to align with the social, economic and cultural realities of their customers. As such, they play a key role in the innovation and adoption process, and arguably, have contributed to the long-term success of M-Pesa.

© 2021 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00035_1
2021-03-01
2025-12-12
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aker, J. C., and Mbiti, I. M.. ( 2010;), ‘ Mobile phones and economic development in Africa. ’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24:3, pp. 207–32.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Al Lily, A. E.. ( 2013;), ‘ The social shaping of educational technologies in Saudi Arabia: An examination of how the social fabric shapes the construction and use of technologies. ’, Technology in Society, 35:3, pp. 203–22.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Baym, N.. ( 2010), Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Malden, MA:: Polity;.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Best, M. L., and Kumar, R.. ( 2008;), ‘ Sustainability failures of rural telecenters: Challenges from the sustainable access in rural India (SARI) project. ’, Information Technologies and International Development, 4:4, pp. 31–45.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Buchanan, D. A., and Boddy, D.. ( 1992), The Expertise of the Change Agent: Public Performance and Backstage Activity, Hemel Hempstead:: Prentice-Hall;.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Caputo, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ The pivotal role of mobile money agents in driving financial inclusion. ’, GSMA, 20 August, https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/the-pivotal-role-of-mobile-money-agents-in-driving-financial-inclusion/. Accessed 5 March 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Chigona, W., and Licker, P.. ( 2008;), ‘ Using diffusion of innovations framework to explain communal computing facilities adoption among the urban poor. ’, Information Technologies & International Development, 4:3, pp. 57–73.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Darian-Smith, E., and McCarty, P.. ( 2017), The Global Turn: Theories, Research Designs, and Methods for Global Studies, Oakland:: University of California Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Diniz, E. H.,, Bailey, D. E., and Sholler, D.. ( 2014;), ‘ Achieving ICT4D project success by altering context, not technology. ’, Information Technologies & International Development, 10:4, pp. 15–29.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Donner, J.. ( 2008;), ‘ The rules of beeping: Exchanging messages via intentional “missed calls” on mobile phones. ’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13:1, pp. 1–22.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Foster, C., and Heeks, R.. ( 2013a;), ‘ Innovation and scaling of ICT for the bottom-of-the-pyramid. ’, Journal of Information Technology, 28:4, pp. 296–315.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Foster, C., and Heeks, R.. ( 2013b;), ‘ Conceptualizing inclusive innovation: Modifying systems of innovation frameworks to understand diffusion of new technology to low-income consumers. ’, European Journal of Development Research, 25:3, pp. 333–55.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Foster, C., and Heeks, R.. ( 2014;), ‘ Nurturing user–producer interaction: Inclusive innovation flows in a low-income mobile phone market. ’, Innovation and Development, 4:2, pp. 221–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Haddon, L.. ( 2011;), ‘ Domestication analysis, objects of study, and the centrality of technologies in everyday life. ’, Canadian Journal of Communication, 36:2, pp. 311–23.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Hawari, A., and Heeks, R.. ( 2010;), ‘ Explaining ERP failure in a developing country: A Jordanian case study. ’, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 23:2, pp. 135–60.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Hayes, N., and Westrup, C.. ( 2012;), ‘ Context and the processes of ICT for development. ’, Information and Organization, 22:1, pp. 23–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Heeks, R.. ( 2002;), ‘ Information systems and developing countries: Failure, success, and local improvisations. ’, The Information Society, 18:2, pp. 101–12.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Heeks, R.. ( 2009;), ‘ The ICT4D manifesto: Where next for ICTs and international development?. ’, Development Informatics Working Paper, No. 42 , Cambridge:: University of Cambridge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Hutchby, I.. ( 2001;), ‘ Technologies, texts and affordances. ’, Sociology, 35:2, pp. 441–56.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Ideo.org ( 2016;), ‘ Unlocking the potential of mobile money in East Africa. ’, YouTube, 27 July, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_yphFO_GIA. Accessed 3 February 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Jack, W.,, Suri, T., and Townsend, R.. ( 2010;), ‘ Monetary theory and electronic money: Reflections on the Kenyan experience. ’, Economic Quarterly, 96:1, pp. 83–122.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Jagodick, J.,, Courvisanos, J., and Yearwood, J.. ( 2011;), ‘ ICT change agents: Global actors in financial services technology projects. ’, Asia Pacific Management Review, 16:2, pp. 165–80.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Jagodick, J.,, Courvisanos, J.,, Yearwood, J., and Braun, P.. ( 2014;), ‘ Key public sector individuals as ICT change agents: An analysis of Australian and German experience. ’, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 31:2, pp. 197–212.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Johnston, K. A.,, Jali, N.,, Kundaeli, F., and Adeniran, T.. ( 2015;), ‘ ICTs for the broader development of South Africa: An analysis of literature. ’, Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 70:3, pp. 1–22.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Jorgensen, M. S.,, Jorgensen, U., and Clausen, C.. ( 2009;), ‘ The social shaping approach to technology foresight. ’, Futures, 41:2, pp. 80–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Katz, J. E., and Aakhus, M. A.. ( 2002;), ‘ Conclusion: Making meaning of mobiles – a theory of apparatgeist. ’, in J. E. Katz, and M. A. Aakhus. (eds), Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance, Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press;, pp. 301–18.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. LeCompte, M. D., and Schensul, J. J.. ( 2013), Analysis and Interpretation of Ethnographic Data: A Mixed Methods Approach, Lanham, MD:: Altamira Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Lievrouw, L. A.. ( 2006;), ‘ New media design and development: Diffusion of innovations v social shaping of technology. ’, in L. A. Lievrouw, and S. Livingstone. (eds), The Handbook of New Media, London:: Sage;, pp. 246–65.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Mahoney, D.. ( 2017;), ‘ Money in your hand: M-Pesa and mobile money in Kenya. ’, in D. L. Hodgson, and J. A. Byfield. (eds), Global Africa: Into the Twenty-First Century, Oakland:: University of California Press;, pp. 280–88.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mazer, R.,, Pillai, R., and Staschen, S.. ( 2016;), ‘ Agents for everyone: Removing agent exclusivity in Kenya & Uganda. ’, CGAP, 22 July, https://www.cgap.org/blog/agents-everyone-removing-agent-exclusivity-kenya-uganda. Accessed 10 January 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Morawczynski, O.. ( 2011;), ‘ Examining the adoption, usage and outcomes of mobile money services: The case of M-Pesa in Kenya. ’, Ph.D. thesis, Edinburgh:: University of Edinburgh;.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Murando, C.,, Wollni, M.,, De Brauw, A., and Mugabi, N.. ( 2018;), ‘ Social network effects on mobile money adoption in Uganda. ’, The Journal of Development Studies, 54:2, pp. 327–42.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Musa, P. F.. ( 2006;), ‘ Making a case for modifying the technology acceptance model to account for limited accessibility in developing countries. ’, Information Technology for Development, 12:3, pp. 213–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Omwansa, T. K., and Sullivan, N. P.. ( 2012), Money, Real Quick: Kenya’s Disruptive Mobile Money Innovation, Lexington, KY:: Balloonview Ltd;.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Open County Website ( n.d.;), ‘ About Uasin-Gishu. ’, https://opencounty.org/county-about.php?com=8&cid=27. Accessed 3 February 2021.
  36. Pope, C.,, Ziebland, S., and Mays, N.. ( 2000;), ‘ Qualitative research in health care: Analyzing qualitative data. ’, British Medical Journal, 320:7227, pp. 114–16.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Rogers, E.. ( 2003), Diffusion of Innovations, New York:: Free Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Rutten, M., and Mwangi, M.. ( 2012;), ‘ Mobile cash for nomadic keepers: The impact of the mobile phone money innovation (M-Pesa) on Maasai Pastoralists in Kenya. ’, in J. Gewald,, A. Leliveld, and I. Pesa. (eds), Transforming Innovations in Africa: Explorative Studies on Appropriation in African Societies, Leiden:: Brill;, pp. 79–101.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Safaricom ( n.d.;), ‘ Experience M-Pesa. ’, 4 February, https://www.safaricom.co.ke/personal/m-pesa/getting-started/experience-m-pesa. Accessed 7 June 2020.
  40. Tully, M.. ( 2015;), ‘ Investigating the role of innovation attributes in the adoption, rejection, and discontinued use of open source software for development. ’, Information Technologies & International Development, 11:3, pp. 55–69.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Tuwei, D., and Tully, M.. ( 2017;), ‘ Producing communities and commodities: Safaricom and commercial nationalism in Kenya. ’, Global Media and Communication, 31:1, pp. 21–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. UNDP ( 2013;), ‘ Kenya human development indicators. ’, 4 February, http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/KEN. Accessed 3 January 2017.
  43. Wellen, L., and van Dijk, P. M.. ( 2018;), ‘ Frugal financial innovations for inclusive finance: The Experience with customer care at M-Pesa in Kenya. ’, Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 29:3&4, pp. 262–75.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Williams, R., and Edge, D.. ( 1996;), ‘ The social shaping of technology. ’, Research Policy, 25:6, pp. 865–99.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Tuwei, David, and Tully, Melissa. ( 2021;), ‘ The role of change agents in the adaptation and use of mobile money services in Kenya. ’, Journal of African Media Studies, 13:1, pp. 89–102, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00035_1
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00035_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Kenya; M-Pesa; mobile money; Safaricom; technology adaptation; technology adoption

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test