Jointly developed in partnership with Mobile firm Safaricom, the M- Kesho service allows customers to transfer money to and from their M-PESA accounts via their mobile handsets while enjoying other benefits that come with the Equity bank account
Presenting prizes to the winners at the Gala, Dr. Bitange Ndemo, of the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communication said the government had completed most of the fiber optics infrastructure and is currently tackling the last mile in the provision of broad band network.
"Kenya is now the country with the most Internet users in the whole of Africa at 20 per cent usage Kenya moved from 15% to 20% after the fiber optic cable landed. Most countries are at between 10% and 15%" he said.
Mr Ndemo called on the information and communications technology industry to set ethics and values like the developed and emerging economies.
"14 million of our youth are on Facebook daily, he said.” We must have a set of values and ethics. No country in the world has developed without ethics and values. We must embrace those values and that is why the constitution created the value systems", he said.
Mr Ndemo challenged the computer Society of Kenya to base future awards on individuals or institutions that had come up with the best applications to help Kenyans.
The Computer Society of Kenya considered M-Kesho an innovative idea as it provides a platform for Kenyans to save money and also enjoy the benefits of having the added value services of both M-PESA and Equity Bank accounts.
Launched in May this year, M-Kesho has contributed in demystifying banking and making it easy for Kenyans owning a mobile phone to access financial services and enjoy the freedom of modern banking.