Safaricom has announced that its popular mobile money service, M-Pesa, will go offline for three hours early next week to allow for a system upgrade.
In a notice to customers on Friday, the company said the maintenance would run on Monday, 22 September, from 12:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. All M-Pesa services, including buying airtime, will be unavailable during that period.
“The timing of this maintenance activity has been planned to result in minimal inconvenience to our customers,” Safaricom said in a statement. “During the maintenance, all M-Pesa services including airtime purchase shall be temporarily unavailable.”
The company stressed that the upgrade was part of ongoing efforts to keep its 18-year-old infrastructure secure and reliable. “This system upgrade is vital to offer safe, secure and worry-free financial products and services,” the statement added.
Safaricom apologised for the inconvenience, thanking customers for their patience and continued support.
Launched in 2007, M-Pesa has grown into one of Africa’s largest mobile money platforms, used daily by millions for payments, savings and transfers. Short outages for upgrades are not uncommon, though the firm usually schedules them during off-peak hours.
For many Kenyans, however, even brief disruptions are felt sharply, given M-Pesa’s central role in the economy. Safaricom maintains that these upgrades are essential to protect users and ensure the system can meet growing demand.
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