Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom, stays tight-lipped concerning the destiny of Mali, its first cash market fund launched in 2020, because it aggressively pushes Ziidi, the newly launched alternative.

Ziidi, which obtained regulatory approval in November 2024, is a partnership between Safaricom, Normal Funding Financial institution, ALA Capital Restricted, and Sanlam Investments East Africa Restricted. Nevertheless, its rollout has been marred by controversy, with clients left at nighttime about Mali’s standing whereas Safaricom intensifies efforts to onboard customers onto Ziidi.  

At a Friday media briefing that coincided with M-PESA’s 18th anniversary, Safaricom stated Ziidi has already recorded over a million sign-ups with over KES 6 billion ($46 million) in funds. Some customers had been allegedly moved from Mali, which sparked a authorized dispute with Mali’s fund supervisor, Genghis Capital. 

In December 2024, Genghis Capital accused Safaricom of migrating clients to Ziidi with out their consent. The agency additionally claimed Safaricom intentionally orchestrated a liquidity disaster that will set off mass withdrawals from Mali amid possession disputes over the fund.  

The state of affairs worsened in late December 2024 and January 2025, when Mali skilled persistent technical failure that prevented some clients from withdrawing funds or signing up. Whereas the service stays frozen for brand spanking new registrations, Ziidi stays totally operational, which fuels the hypothesis that Mali is being phased out.  

Each funds at present seem on Safaricom’s M-PESA app. Safaricom and Genghis Capital had been contacted a number of occasions for remark however didn’t reply. 

By September 2024, Mali was Kenya’s Seventeenth-largest collective funding scheme managing KES 3.1 billion ($24 million) in belongings and bringing in KES 11.6 million ($89,000) for Safaricom within the first half of the 12 months. 

Kenya’s funding funds have seen important progress, with whole belongings underneath administration rising 13% to KES 254 billion ($1.9 billion)  in June, up from KES 225 billion ($1.7 billion) in March, in line with information from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).  

Throughout the identical interval, cash market funds remained the dominant selection, accounting for KES 171.2 billion ($1.3 billion) and 67.4% of whole investments. The remaining belongings had been distributed throughout fixed-income, fairness, and different funding classes.