Ethiopia's M-PESA integrates AI creation tools into mobile money platform through gebeya deal

The partnership allows users to build apps, generate content in local languages, and pay for AI services without leaving the mobile money app they already use.

Amadou Daffe is the CEO of Gebeya Inc.

M-PESA Ethiopia and Gebeya Inc. have announced a joint product called the Dala AI Bundle, a subscription offering that embeds AI-powered creation tools directly into the mobile money platform. The companies describe it as the first time an African mobile money operator has packaged AI creation capabilities as a standard product available to its entire user base.

Through the bundle, subscribers gain access to Dala Studio, Gebeya's localised AI platform, which supports app development, AI agent creation, game design, comic generation, and content production in Amharic, Oromo, and other Ethiopian languages. Payments for the service run through M-PESA, meaning users do not need a separate account or payment method to access the tools.

The product extends a relationship the two companies had already established through the Safaricom Talent Cloud in Ethiopia, a programme that has put developer training in front of thousands of people across the country.

"A student in Addis, a merchant in Bahir Dar, or a storyteller in Hawassa can now create assets in their own language, making their payments through M-PESA, the app they already use every day," said Amadou Daffe, CEO of Gebeya. "This is how Africa's AI future gets built: by Africans, for Africans."

For M-PESA, the deal reflects a broader push to position the platform as more than a payments tool. "By partnering with Gebeya, we are enabling millions of Ethiopians to access AI tools through a payment platform they already trust," said Elsa Muzzolini, CEO of M-PESA Ethiopia.

The announcement comes as mobile-first AI distribution models gain traction across Sub-Saharan Africa, where smartphone penetration remains uneven but mobile money adoption is widespread.