Safaricom and Vodacom have announced that they have completed the acquisition of the M-PESA brand, product development and support services from Vodafone through a newly-created joint venture.

The two firms in a statement said the transaction will accelerate M-PESA’s growth in Africa by giving both Vodacom and Safaricom full control of the M-PESA brand, product development and support services as well as the opportunity to expand M-PESA into new African markets.

Michael Joseph, outgoing Safaricom CEO says: “For Safaricom, we’re excited that the management, support and development of the M-PESA platform has now been relocated to Kenya, where the journey to transform the world of mobile payments began 13 years ago.”