At present, the Central Bank has approved 500 M-Pesa agents, which is half the total number of commercial bank branches to serve as account origination points for the product. We expect to approve over 5,000 agents by the end of July 2010. M-Kesho goes beyond urbanrural money transfer.
That is why research efforts at the Bank are focused on some key areas. In particular, we are working to better model the dynamics between the real and financial sides of the economy, particularly the triggers for financial instability. This continues to be a blind spot. Related to this is work to measure the effectiveness of macroprudential measures and unconventional monetary policy tools.