Itel and Tecno Smartphones Now Available on Safaricom’s Lipa Mdogomdogo Initiative

In July 2020, telecommunications company Safaricom kickstarted its Lipa mdogomdogo initiative after signing a partnership with Google for the same. This initiative has benefitted over 500,000 Kenyans who would have otherwise not afforded to buy a smartphone at once.

This initiative has seen more Kenyans get connected to the internet and in turn make contributions to Kenya’s digital transformation journey. However, the only phones that were available to buy via Lipa mdogomdogo were the Safaricom Neon smartphones.

Recently, Kenyans have been given an array of choices if they were to opt to get a smartphone via Lipa mdogomdogo. This is after Safaricom signed a partnership with Transsion to enable its customers to also get Itel and Tecno smartphones and pay via installments (Lipa mdogomdogo).

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer, Peter Ndegwa, termed this as a major milestone for the telco and for Kenya as well in its digital transformation journey as it will see more Kenyans get connected to the internet.

“As we continue to listen to their customers and make iterations, Safaricom marked yet another milestone by unveiling a partnership with Transsion which will enable customers acquire select Itel and Tecno devices,” he said, “This will increase the variety of devices available and enable customers get a device that suits their style and needs.”

Transsion is also a manufacturer of the Infinix models and it will just be a matter of time before the model is also available for purchase via Safaricom’s Lipa mdogomdogo initiative.

In the Lipa mdogomdogo initiative, customers would pay a down payment of 5 dollars and then later pay 0.2 dollars everyday until they finish up paying for the device. While the customers are paying for the device, they will already be able to use the device and will also be connected to the internet.

Internet penetration is one of the major milestones Africa need to make to fast track its digital transformation journey. There’s no faster way of increasing internet penetration than giving more Africans access to a smartphone.