Jesse Moore

Jesse Moore is the CEO and co-founder of M-KOPA, a fintech platform that has expanded access to essential goods and financial services for underbanked communities across Africa. Moore began his career as a strategy consultant at Monitor Group before joining CARE, an international organization focused on addressing global poverty. His work at CARE included assignments in Kenya and contributed to the foundation for his future work in technology and social enterprise. Moore later served as director of the GSM Association Development Fund in London, collaborating with mobile network operators in Africa and Asia to develop business models for low-income consumers, experience that informed his entrepreneurial approach.

Moore co-founded M-KOPA with Nick Hughes and Chad Larson, relocating to Nairobi to establish the company. Drawing inspiration from the mobile money innovation of M-PESA, M-KOPA introduced a pay-as-you-go financing model that enables customers to acquire products such as solar home systems, smartphones, and electric motorcycles through daily mobile payments. Moore has emphasized the importance of treating low-income individuals as customers rather than charity recipients. Since its commercial launch, M-KOPA has financed more than 3 million customers, deployed over $1 billion in products and credit, and grown to employ more than 2,000 staff and 10,000 sales agents, with offices in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom.

Under Moore's leadership, M-KOPA has received recognition as a leader in connected financing and social enterprise. The company has been named among the 50 Smartest Companies in the World by MIT Technology Review, the Fastest Growing Companies in Africa by Financial Times, the Top 50 Companies Changing the World by Fortune, and TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies. M-KOPA also received the Zayed Future Energy Prize for its commitment to sustainable development. Moore has been recognized as one of 100 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum and as one of Kenya's Top 40 Under 40 by Business Daily.

Moore holds an MBA from Oxford University's Saïd Business School, where he was a Skoll Scholar, and a BA from the University of North Carolina, where he was a Morehead Scholar. His academic background in social entrepreneurship reinforced his belief that for-profit enterprise is a scalable path to meaningful impact. Moore is a frequent speaker on financial inclusion, sustainable development, and entrepreneurship in emerging markets, and has addressed global forums such as Africa CEO Forum and Mobile World Congress, sharing perspectives on how technology and innovative business models can expand economic opportunity for people outside the formal financial system.