A fund manager has asked the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to investigate Safaricom over what he says is preferential treatment for its new money market product, Ziidi. The May 26 letter by I.C. Law LLP, which mentions Cytonn CEO Edwin Dande as its client, claims that Safaricom is distorting the market by giving Ziidi free access to its M-PESA infrastructure while rival funds are forced to pass on transaction costs to customers.
“We submit that this arrangement constitutes a restrictive trade practice under section 21 of the Competition Act as it applies dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions, limits market access for competing funds, and distorts competition in the retail investment market,” the letter, which TechCabal saw, said.
“We respectfully request that the Competition Authority of Kenya investigate this conduct and take appropriate enforcement action, including the termination of the exclusive arrangement and imposition of necessary sanctions.”
The letter argues that the structure breaks competition law, and rests the case on the claim that Safaricom, which controls over 91% of mobile money services in Kenya, is using its infrastructure to give Ziidi privileged access at the expense of everyone else.
The letter further claims that the setup amounts to a restrictive vertical agreement, where Safaricom and Ziidi, two separate entities, treat similar transactions differently. Investors using other funds are charged between KES 10 and KES 60 for deposits and withdrawals, depending on the amount. Ziidi users pay nothing.
The letter names Standard Investment Bank, ALA Capital, and Sanlam Investments East Africa—Ziidi’s fund managers—as indirect beneficiaries of this pricing setup. The complainants claim this gives Ziidi an unfair customer acquisition and retention edge, even when competing funds offer similar or better returns.
The call for CAK’s intervention comes amid growing disquiet over the rollout of Ziidi. Safaricom has not addressed the future of Mali, its first money market product launched in 2020, which has remained frozen since early 2025. Genghis Capital, Mali’s fund manager, previously accused Safaricom of orchestrating a silent exit from Mali, first by triggering a liquidity crunch and then directing customers toward Ziidi without consent.
Ziidi received regulatory approval in November 2024 and now counts over one million users with KES 6 billion ($46 million) in assets. Some Mali users were allegedly migrated to Ziidi without opting in, which sparked a legal dispute between Safaricom and Genghis. While both products still appear on the M-PESA app, only Ziidi remains operational. Mali is no longer accepting new sign-ups.
Kenya’s money market space has seen rapid growth. As of June 2024, money market funds held 67.4% of total collective investments, amounting to KES 171.2 billion ($1.3 billion). This growth has come with increased competition, particularly around access to low-cost, mobile-first retail investors.
The complainant wants CAK to compel Safaricom to either extend zero-rated M-PESA access to all market players or restore parity by charging transaction fees on Ziidi. They argue that without such enforcement, the market will tilt further in favour of vertically aligned products and erode trust in the country’s digital finance ecosystem.
Neither the law firm representing Dande nor Safaricom immediately offered comment on the matter.