Safaricom, Chainalysis Use AI to Track M-Pesa Payments

Safaricom has joined Chainalysis and a group of major technology, payment and crypto firms in a United for Wildlife taskforce formed in 2024 to use artificial intelligence to monitor payments linked to wildlife trafficking. The initiative was announced at an event convened by Prince William and The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife.

Participants named Safaricom and its parent companies Vodafone and Vodacom, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, PayPal, TRM Labs and Luno, as well as technology platforms Google, Meta, TikTok and Alibaba. The companies plan to use automated systems to detect illegal wildlife listings on social and e-commerce platforms while applying transaction monitoring and blockchain analytics to follow funds behind trafficking networks.

Safaricom will add AI tools to its anti-money laundering and transaction-monitoring systems across M-Pesa, the mobile money service widely used in Kenya and across parts of Africa. The tools are intended to flag unusual payment patterns, identify high-risk seller accounts and interrupt payment flows linked to poaching and cross-border trafficking before illicit sales are completed.

Payment processors and crypto analytics firms involved will trace cross-border crypto wallets and alternative payment methods used by smugglers. They plan to share intelligence on wallet addresses and transaction patterns with banks and payment platforms, and use digital forensics and blockchain analysis to map networks and support law enforcement investigations.

United for Wildlife cited United Nations Environment Programme estimates that illegal wildlife trade generates up to $23 billion a year and contributes to threats against about one million plant and animal species. The taskforce highlighted the white rhinoceros as an example: conservation work raised the Southern white rhino population to about 17,000, but organized poaching in recent decades has put those gains at risk. Rhino horn is composed of keratin and has been reported to sell for as much as $60,000 per kilogram on the black market.

British Airways and Heathrow Airport said they will run public awareness campaigns to encourage travellers to spot and report suspected wildlife products. Organizers described the effort as combining front-end content moderation on platforms with back-end payment disruption to help reduce the profitability of illegal wildlife trade and create clearer leads for investigators.

David Fein, co-chair of United for Wildlife, noted that private companies are treating illegal wildlife trade as both an environmental and a business issue.