M-PESA Jumbe and the end of the payment screenshot.
Safaricom's new JumbeID hides customers' names and numbers on payment messages. Businesses that still verify payments by screenshot should change how they work.
52.3 million smartphones: mobile-first is no longer a design choice.
The Communications Authority's latest figures put smartphones at over 52 million connected devices. Here is what that means for your website.
By Hanova Editorial
The Communications Authority of Kenya reported 52.3 million smartphones connected to mobile networks by the end of June 2026, in its sector statistics for the third quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year (Citizen Digital). The same report put active mobile money subscriptions at 53.4 million and showed average mobile data use per subscription rising again.
For any business with a website, the conclusion is plain. Your customers are reading you on a phone, often on mobile data, often on a mid-range handset.
What mobile-first actually means
It is not a desktop site that shrinks. It is a site designed for the phone first and then given more room on bigger screens. In practice:
- Speed on mobile data. Heavy images and bloated scripts cost your customers money and patience. Pages should load fast on an ordinary 4G connection, not just on office Wi-Fi.
- Thumb-friendly design. Buttons large enough to tap, phone numbers that dial when tapped, and WhatsApp links that open a chat.
- Short forms. Every field is harder on a small keyboard. Ask only for what you need.
- Readable text. No zooming to read prices or opening hours.
- Payments that work on the phone. M-PESA STK Push is the natural checkout for a phone audience.
How to check your own site in five minutes
- Open it on an ordinary Android phone, not the newest model.
- Turn off Wi-Fi and load it on mobile data.
- Try to find your phone number, your location and your prices.
- Try to send an enquiry or pay.
- Run it through Google's PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile score.
If any of those steps is slow or awkward, that is where you are losing customers.
The opportunity
More smartphones means more people who can find you, compare you and buy from you without visiting. The businesses that win are the ones whose websites feel built for the phone in a customer's hand.
We design and build fast, mobile-first websites for Kenyan businesses. See our web work or ask for a quick review of your site.
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