Designing and implementing an interoperable and shared agent network in Kenya

• Sep 4, 2025
• 1 min

Kenya’s leadership in digital financial inclusion has been driven by mobile money and CICO agents. However, to sustain this growth commercially viable, user-centric, and high-quality services are required. While early progress in interoperability among mobile money operators is encouraging, gaps remain in network optimization, stakeholder alignment, and customer experience. Kenya needs a shared agent network model that supports multiple institutions, strengthens agent-level economics, and adapts to the evolving needs of underserved users to achieve deeper inclusion.

MSC worked with FSD Kenya to assess different approaches to building sustainable business models, governance frameworks, and market-entry strategies for an interoperable agent network. This involved analyzing value propositions for both customers and agents, ensuring that the model could maximize agent profitability, provide simple and well-supported services, diversify income sources, enhance service accessibility, ensure fair and transparent pricing, and deliver consistently high service quality.

The engagement led to capacity building and workshops to strengthen governance, business models, technology, and operational policies, alongside the development of a practical implementation plan for the interoperable network. The resulting design offers an integrated and sustainable model with the potential to expand reach, improve user experiences, and enhance the resilience of Kenya’s financial ecosystem.

FSD Kenya commissioned this project.