South Africa’s Vodacom saw a 37 per cent surge in H1 revenue from M-Pesa, although the achievement was not thanks to its domestic business.

Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC and Lesotho all fuelled the revenue growth in the first half of FY2016/17 by adding new subscribers.

The four countries added 1.7 million customers, bringing the total number of M-Pesa subscribers to 10.9 million.

Vodacom picked out DRC, where the number of customers doubled, and Mozambique, where 38 per cent of mobile subscribers use M-Pesa, for accolades.

Less happily, the company shuttered the South African version of M-Pesa from 1 July, after disappointing take-up in a market where more rival options exist for users.

Elsewhere, Vodacom is more optimistic about the service, introducing a new M-Pesa platform in Tanzania and DRC. The company said the upgrade offered “significantly improved stability”, so generating more trust from customers.