PRODUCT MPESA is a globally acclaimed mobile money transfer system by Kenya’s largest and most profitable company, Safaricom. MPESA is a platform that allows its users to send and receive money through their mobile phones, as well as access other financial products through a network of over 100,000 agents (Lazaro, 2020). MPESA is currently the leading mobile money transfer system in Kenya controlling 99% of mobile money transfer subscriptions (Statistica, 2023). In the financial year ended March 2023, MPESA revenues accounted for 41.5% of total revenues generated by the company amounting to $856.65million (Businessdaily, 2023). PROPOSED TARGET MARKET The proposed target market for MPESA services in Ethiopia are the rural unbanked population with access to mobile phones. Of the total Ethiopian population of 120.3 million in 2022, 95.4 million people lived in rural areas (World Bank, 2023). While financial services penetration in rural areas in Ethiopia is low, the mobile phone connections is high at 49.1% of the population (Kemp, 2022) The rural unbanked population in Ethiopia will serve as a niche market. The company aims to replicate the successes of MPESA in Kenya in the Ethiopian market MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY Ethiopia is the second most populous country and the 7th largest economy in Africa by Gross Domestic Product (Statistica, 2022). Ethiopia is one of the countries with lower financial inclusions. Only 30.5% of adults had an account at a formal financial institution and mostly these live in urban centres (Mengistu et al, 2021). The proposed market entry strategy for MPESA services in Ethiopia is Foreign Direct Investment (Lorvorok and Wongsurawat, 2019). Safaricom intends to set up a subsidiary in Ethiopia dealing specifically with mobile money transfer services MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY The market entry mode was necessitated by the cordial relationships between Kenya and Ethiopia as members of a trade bloc called Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that allows free flow of people, capital and investments among member states (IGAD, 2022). Since mobile transfer system is a relatively new concept with zero roots in Ethiopia, only direct foreign investment can allow the company to effectively market the product in the country. The team is aware that Ethiopia is one of the countries with poor human rights records including ethnic marginalization. The company will maintain a neutral stand and implement ethical business practices like being an equal opportunity employer. MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES Product While the company will need to standardize what MPESA offers, there are aspects that will need to be introduced bit by bit. For example, it wouldn’t be appropriate to introduce credit facilities like fuliza at the beginning (Safaricom, n.d). Place/distribution Intensive distribution strategy to make the product widely available as possible through various retail outlets. The company to use MPESA agents to be paid attractive commission on every MPESA transaction. This will ensure that a wider target market is reached quickly Pricing Penetration pricing strategy to draw as many customers as possible to the new service. Setting the price too high might harm the uptake and diffusion of the new product (Spann, Fischer and Tellis, 2015). Safaricom’s huge economies of scale demonstrated by its financial strength enables it to lower prices of MPESA service initially in order to capture the market (Miriri, 2023). • Promotion Above the line promotion will be adopted. The company will undertake mass media advertising through television, radio and bill boards. Particular attention will be placed on the use of community radio stations. This is because the majority of the target markets are farmers living in rural areas and illiteracy levels are also high (Mohamed, 2016). Community radios broadcasting in vernacular will be most effective. People Recruit locals for middle and lower level management positions as well as frontline staff, Train them on the Safaricom culture, Knowledge of local languages . Processes • Financial service providers should design a design service process that aim to retain existing customers and charm would be customers (Kraa et al, 2018). • The company will deploy simple, efficient and transparent processes to deliver customer service Physical evidence Customer perception of the service offering will make or break MPESA product in Ethiopia All customer care offices, MPESA agents’ premises will be neatly decorated with the company colours, logos and a display of MPESA products. JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOICE OF ETHIOPIAN MARKET Existence of strong cultural ties between Kenya and Ethiopia as members of Eastern Africa economic bloc, IGAD. Ethiopian businesses operate in Kenya freely and so should Kenyan businesses in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and the fastest growing economy in the Eastern Africa region with a GDP growth of 6.4% in FY2021/22 (World Bank, 2023). MPESA intends to disrupt the Ethiopian financial market. We will use the unserved rural population to be a launching pad to target mainstream and high end of the market (Christensen, Raynor and McDonald, 2015) There is no direct competitor in Ethiopia. Majority of the rural population is excluded from financial services as bank branches are many miles away. MPESA intends to take financial services to the doorsteps of the masses. REFERENCES 1.Lazaro, A (2020). Beyond Silicon Valley. Harvard Business Review. 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