M-Pesa is the flagship product of Kenya’s bluechip company, Safaricom Limited. Safaricom subscribers will now be able to send money to Uganda via M-Pesa service after the telecom finalised a partnership deal with Uganda’s leading mobile operator MTN that will allow for mobile money services across the two  countries.

The move is expected to boost trade between the two countries as Uganda is Kenya’s largest trading partner.

Subscribers will be able to send or receive money via M-Pesa service from the 55,000 agents that have been set in Uganda.

To access the M-Pesa service, customers will be required to dial *840# and follow the prompts.

The money will be sent in Kenyan shillings and received via M-Pesa service in Ugandan shillings based on the prevailing exchange rate as at midnight.

“This is yet another affirmation of our intention to make it possible for our individual and business customers to enjoy convenient, affordable and reliable mobile money services across the borders. This move by the private sector complements economic initiatives spearheaded by the East African Community Heads of State,” said Safaricom’s director of financial services Betty Mwangi under whom the M-Pesa service falls.

Kenyan M-Pesa customers can currently send money to Tanzania and Rwanda.

“We are confident that the cashless revolution that started in Kenya almost a decade ago, will now unlock not only intra-African remittances but also serve as a catalyst for trade and economic growth in the region,” said Africa’s Mobile Financial Solutions Chief Executive Officer Dare Okoudjou.

In March this year, Safaricom launched seamless transaction between Kenya’s M-Pesa service customers to Tanzania’ Vodafone clients.

Safaricom has been offering one-sided international cash transfer services under a licence that only allowed it to move money into Kenya through partners such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

M-Pesa service user

Speaking to Bizna Team, Grace Malii, a boutique owner in South B welcomed the news saying that the service is long overdue since they have had to either carry money in cash or via bank transfers which are cumbersome and time-consuming. Grace sells children and women clothes and shoes which she mainly sources from Uganda. She has been involved in this business to supplement her salon business based in South B. With M-Pesa, she is can now breath a sigh of relief as she will deposit her money in Nairobi and conveniently withdraw it Uganda when she goes to make her purchases in Kampala.