Safaricom’s flagship mobile money transfer service M-Pesa has been recognised as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Finance Projects of the last 50 years.
In its 2019 Most Influential Projects list, the Project Management Institute (PMI) added the mobile money transfer service’s already decorated portfolio.
The 12-year old fintech service was also recognised among the Top 50 Most Influential Projects in the last five decades during a glitzy event held in Philadelphia in the United States on Saturday, October 5.
More than 1,000 projects were considered by a group of 400 leaders in the global project management community, including PMI chapter leaders and members, as well as academicians and industry experts.
“We are honoured to receive this accolade and global recognition which is a true testament to our impact on society,” said Safaricom CEO Micheal Joseph in a press dispatch “This recognition further underlines M-PESA’s commitment to our customers and its transformation to the country which has seen financial inclusion in Kenya grow by more than 50% in the last 12 years to stand at more than 82% today,”
To meet the standards of recognition, the project list identified efforts that changed the world, shaped lives, and altered the DNA of the organisations and the companies that launched them.
The list is part of PMI’s 50th anniversary celebration that includes various activities to recognize the important role project management has played over the past five decades and celebrate where the profession is going.
In addition to its contribution to the growth in financial inclusion in the country, M-PESA has also been credited with financial transformation.
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In 2017, economists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Georgetown University found that M-PESA lifted more than 195,000 Kenyan families from extreme poverty by empowering customers with the agency to receive money from any other phone user in the country.
“This recognition reflects the incredible progress we have made in the project management profession and demonstrates how the fabric of our world has been shaped and continues to be shaped, by the hard work of bringing ideas to life,” said Sunil Prashara, President and CEO of Project Management Institute.
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He added, “This list demonstrates PMI’s vision of how excellence in project execution will be critical in meeting the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow,”
