By 
Kenya’s leading telecommunications company, Safaricom, is yet to clarify the future of Mali, its first money market fund launched in 2020, as it aggressively promotes Ziidi, its newly introduced replacement.
Ziidi, which secured regulatory approval in November 2024, is a collaborative effort between Safaricom, Standard Investment Bank, ALA Capital Limited, and Sanlam Investments East Africa Limited. However, its launch has been overshadowed by uncertainty surrounding Mali, with Safaricom ramping up efforts to transition users to Ziidi while remaining silent on the status of its predecessor.
During a media briefing on Friday—coinciding with M-PESA’s 18th anniversary—Safaricom revealed that Ziidi has already attracted over one million sign-ups, amassing KES 6 billion ($46 million) in funds. However, controversy erupted when some customers alleged they were migrated from Mali without consent, sparking a legal standoff with Genghis Capital, the fund manager for Mali.
In December 2024, Genghis Capital accused Safaricom of deliberately orchestrating a liquidity crisis to push users away from Mali, citing ownership disputes over the fund. The situation escalated further between December 2024 and January 2025, when persistent technical issues prevented some Mali users from withdrawing funds or registering new accounts. While Mali remains frozen for new sign-ups, Ziidi continues full operations, reinforcing speculation that Safaricom is quietly phasing out Mali.
Both Mali and Ziidi still appear on the M-PESA app, but repeated requests for comment from Safaricom and Genghis Capital have gone unanswered.
As of September 2024, Mali was ranked Kenya’s 17th-largest collective investment scheme, managing KES 3.1 billion ($24 million) in assets and generating KES 11.6 million ($89,000) in revenue for Safaricom in the first half of the year.
Kenya’s investment fund market has experienced substantial growth, with total assets under management increasing by 13% to KES 254 billion ($1.9 billion) as of June 2024, up from KES 225 billion ($1.7 billion) in March, according to data from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
Money market funds continue to dominate, holding KES 171.2 billion ($1.3 billion), or 67.4% of total investments, while the remaining assets are spread across fixed income, equities, and other investment categories.
As Safaricom accelerates its push for Ziidi, the silence surrounding Mali’s fate leaves investors and users questioning the company’s long-term strategy in Kenya’s booming financial services sector.
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