Withheld in Trust: Withholding-while-Giving in Parastatal Philanthropy

This paper examines the functioning and implications of a little-known legal trust that forms the financial foundation for M-Pesa. The M-Pesa Holding Company operates a trust fund which is intended to ensure the liquidity of M-Pesa deposits — that is, ensuring Kenyan users can translate between M-Pesa value and fiat currency. But this legal and financial device has significant implications for the distribution of financial yield, as well as authority. The paper discusses how this arrangement emerged, its role in financing the corporate philanthropy of Safaricom, and questions about how the ensuing wealth might be distributed to users, banks, or corporate managers.