Safaricom has partnered with Red Hat to deploy OpenShift, a Kubernetes-based cloud platform, to power its critical applications, including the widely used M-PESA mobile payment system.
The collaboration is designed to enhance the performance, scalability, and agility of Safaricom’s services while setting the stage for future advancements, such as 5G network deployment.
Since its launch in 2007, M-PESA has grown into a cornerstone of financial inclusion in Africa, serving over 51 million customers and handling transactions worth more than $314 billion annually.
The mobile payment platform enables millions of unbanked and underbanked individuals to access essential financial services, including money transfers, bill payments, and merchant transactions. Given its scale and societal impact, ensuring M-PESA’s reliability and efficiency is a top priority for Safaricom.
To meet these demands, Safaricom has turned to Red Hat OpenShift, a platform that streamlines the development, deployment, and management of cloud-native applications across hybrid cloud environments. OpenShift’s advanced security features, robust workload management, and scalability make it well-suited to support M-PESA’s massive transaction volumes and Safaricom’s broader digital ecosystem.
In 2024, Safaricom took its commitment a step further by adopting Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus. This enhanced version includes:
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Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for bolstered cybersecurity,
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Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes to optimize workload orchestration,
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Red Hat Quay, a secure private registry for managing content across global data centers and cloud environments.
These additions underscore Safaricom’s focus on maintaining a secure, scalable, and efficient technological foundation.
Eyeing the Future: 5G and Beyond
Safaricom is also exploring OpenShift’s potential for its network infrastructure, particularly as it prepares to roll out its 5G core. This move reflects the company’s ambition to remain a leader in technological innovation and expand its service offerings to meet growing customer demand.
Safaricom aims to build a flexible and future-ready infrastructure capable of supporting next-generation connectivity.
The partnership highlights a rising trend in the telecom industry: the adoption of open-source, cloud-native solutions. These technologies enable providers to innovate more quickly, cut operational costs, and improve service delivery—benefits that ripple out to consumers and businesses alike. For Safaricom, this shift is part of a larger transformation from a traditional telecom operator to a technology-driven organization.
James Maitai, Safaricom’s Chief Technology Information Officer, emphasized the partnership’s role in this evolution: “Red Hat has been a pivotal partner in Safaricom’s journey from a traditional telecommunications company to a technology-driven organization. This collaboration aligns with our mission of transforming lives by empowering our teams with cutting-edge tools and platforms.”
“We are pleased to collaborate closely with Safaricom as one team on its modernization project with Red Hat OpenShift as its common platform for developing and deploying applications at scale,” Fran Heeran, Vice President of Global Telecommunications at Red Hat, echoed this sentiment.
