M-PESA Ranked 9th Most Influential Project Worldwide

Safaricom’s M-PESA has been recognised as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Finance Projects of the last 50 years by Project Management Institute (PMI) in its 2019 Most Influential Projects list.

The 12-year old service further stood out by being recognised among the Top 50 Most Influential Projects in the last five decades. 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 academics and industry experts.

“We are honoured to receive this accolade and global recognition which is a true testament to our impact on society. 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 percent in the last 12 years to stand at more than 82 percent today,” said Michael Joseph, CEO Safaricom.

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. In 2017, economists from 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. This list demonstrates PMI’s vision of how excellence in project execution will be critical in meeting the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow ,” said Sunil Prashara, President and CEO of Project Management Institute.

Here’s a list of the TOP 20 MOST Influential Projects Worldwide

1. World Wide Web – For connecting everyone and everything
2. Apollo 11 – For proving risk management and out-of-this-world ambitions can make the impossible possible
3. Intel® 4004 Microprocessor – For democratizing the power of computing*
4. The Euro – For flawlessly executing the largest monetary changeover in history
5. Human Genome Project – For rising above usual silos to unlock the building block of humanity and enable unparalleled innovations in medicine, biotech and life sciences
6. Alibaba® Singles Day – For creating the largest e-commerce day in the world and fundamentally shifting how people shop*
7. Prius® Car – For driving the auto industry toward a more sustainable future*
8. Live Aid® Concert – For reimagining the magnitude and model of philanthropy with a major dose of celebrity*
9. M-Pesa® Mobile Microfinancing Platform– For delivering cutting-edge mobile technology that allowed Kenya to leapfrog past more advanced economies and start a banking revolution*
10. Svalbard Global Seed Vault – For building the ultimate insurance policy for the world’s food supply
11. Netflix® Streaming – For proving a single project can pivot a company, an industry and viewing habits of the entire world
12. DynaTAC 8000x™ Mobile Phone – For connecting phones to people, not places*
13. Alexa® Voice Service – For making voice-activated computer interface a part of everyday life*
14. Paris Fashion Week – For transforming a ho-hum industry showcase into an all-eyes-are-watching global event
15. Burj Khalifa– For standing tall as a symbol of economic diversification in the Middle East
16. Walt Disney World® Resort – For setting the bar on immersive entertainment – and then raising it again and again*
17. Google® Search – For transforming the way we think about and identify information*
18. Belt and Road Initiative – For launching the largest infrastructure blitz the world has ever seen –1,814 projects and counting
19. Bitcoin – For putting cryptocurrency on the map and giving birth to blockchain
20. MRI – For revolutionizing medicine in a noninvasive way

M-PESA’s impact extends through its ecosystem of more than 1,100 suppliers, 400 active dealers and more than 167,000 agents who benefict directly from the service. It has also also contributed up to KES 75 billion in revenue to Safaricom and has grown to serve more than 26 million active customers today.

Here’s the full list.