Safaricom PLC has expanded its suite of financial technology offerings with the formal launch of Ziidi Shari’ah, a specialized collective investment scheme tailored to deliver accessible, liquid, and faith-aligned wealth management options to millions of retail investors across the country.

The new product, developed in strategic partnership with GulfCap Investment Bank following regulatory clearance from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), allows mobile money users to deposit and build capital starting from as low as Sh100 directly through the M-Pesa platform.

Speaking during the official launch ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Dr. Peter Ndegwa underscored that the initiative represents a broader strategic move from basic transaction processing toward comprehensive long-term financial health for diverse customer segments, including Kenya’s estimated five million Muslim citizens.

“From the very beginning, Safaricom has always been about transforming lives,” Ndegwa said. “We started as a telecommunication company offering connectivity, and over time we built M-Pesa to expand financial inclusion through payments. Now, we are advancing to financial health by enabling people to save, invest, and insure. With Ziidi Shari’ah, anyone can invest as low as 100 shillings without fee barriers, and deposit or withdraw at any time.”

Ndegwa noted that beyond serving local retail savers, the digital fund establishes a seamless, low-friction channel for the Kenyan diaspora seeking compliant financial instruments to invest back into the domestic market.

The underlying structure operates as an independent, segregated investment pool. This mechanism guarantees that subscriber assets remain completely separate from conventional commercial money market instruments and are strictly deployed into non-interest-bearing, Shari’ah-compliant assets.

Safaricom Chief Financial Officer Boniface Mungania highlighted that the co-designed architecture reflects direct customer feedback and a deliberate goal to eliminate unintentional barriers within the financial services ecosystem.

“Financial inclusion is not simply about making financial services available,” Mungania said. “It is about understanding the different realities of the people we serve. We listened to a segment of our population that felt left out of conventional products, and Ziidi Sharia is our response to ensuring holistic inclusion.”

GulfCap Investment Bank Chairman Suleiman Shahbal commended Safaricom for opening up public capital markets to previously underserved communities, highlighting the strict fiduciary oversight embedded within the fund’s operational structure.

“On our part, as managers of the fund, we have gone out of our way to make sure that all the money is placed in Shari’ah-compliant banks and Shari’ah-compliant institutions,” Shahbal said. “And as a product, we will continue to work with Safaricom to improve it day by day. I would urge every Muslim and anybody in the country who wants to invest in a compliant, ethically compliant way, that this is a good product to have.”

Shahbal added that independent institutional oversight by KCB Trustees ensures that investor capital remains safe, monitored, and fully protected in accordance with national statutory rules.

Representing the Capital Markets Authority, Justus Ogoti affirmed that approving the money market fund aligns with broader policy frameworks to modernise capital market laws while positioning Kenya as a premier hub for innovative financial instruments.

“Islamic finance continues to prove itself as a catalyst that has helped in including everyone into sustainable growth,” Ogoti said. “Within our financial sector, we have a window of opportunity to improve capital inflows in the country while positioning Kenya as a national business hub and an innovative capital market centre.

 by Zipporah Odionyi and Lilian Gichohi