Juma Allan: Meet Kenyan Tech Guru Who Scored D In Maths, Developed M-Pesa Daraja API

• Juma Allan disclosed that his goal was to become a mechanical engineer and that computer science was his second choice
• Allan worked on open-source initiatives for Twiga and the M-Pesa Daraja Application Programming Interface (API)
• While he struggled to excel in mathematics, he did not believe that studying computer science was a life-or-death situation

TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto brings over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

In the tech world, Juma Allan is well-known for working with major firms such as M-Kopa, D-Light, Twiga Foods, and the M-Pesa Daraja project.

What was Juma Allan's dream job?

Despite his success in technology and growing up surrounded by computers, his dream job was in mechanical engineering.

However, once he completed his high school education, his father advised him to enrol at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and pursue a career in computer science.

"I grew up around computers because my mum used to run a cyber business. I had fun on the Internet and played games instead of truly focusing on programming," Allan was quoted by Business Today.

He disclosed that his goal was to become a mechanical engineer and that computer science was his second choice.

Allan disproved the belief that studying computer science requires a strong math background.

This was evident when he enrolled at JKUAT in 2013 to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer technology despite scoring a D in the subject. Three years later, he dropped out of school.

"I joined JKUAT, bridged math for one semester, and then enrolled in IT, but in two to three years, I quit school. Yes, I failed in maths, but I wouldn’t say that doing computer science is a matter of life and death. What math does is enable you to understand computer concepts easily. At the end of the day, it’s something you can learn on your own," he said.

Developing Twiga Foods payment system, M-Pesa Daraja API

After quitting school, he worked for a year as an Android engineer at Mover Technologies in Thika.

In 2018, he was hired as a full-time employee at Twiga Foods.

"My career took a turn for the better in 2018 when I was hired on a permanent basis at Twiga Foods after working intermittently for Mover Technologies for nearly a year."

Allan worked on open-source initiatives for Twiga and the M-PESA Daraja Application Programming Interface (API).

“I developed the M-PESA Daraja API and the present Twiga payment system," he revealed.

A programming interface, or API, facilitates accessible system communication. He joined D-Light company after a year.

What is M-Pesa Daraja API?

According to Safaricom, M-Pesa Daraja API enables customers to pay for goods and services directly from a business account to a till number, merchant store number or Merchant HO.

Businesses use Daraja to incorporate pay bill cashless payments and Lipa Na M-Pesa Buy Goods till into websites, mobile applications, point-of-sale terminals, and other business solutions.

“M-Pesa provides a unique platform that enables thousands of businesses to leverage its capabilities to drive their growth. The simplified onboarding process will enable both small and large businesses to integrate to M-Pesa as a payment platform for their businesses with ease," the telco stated.

Who invented M-Pesa?

A video shared by Safaricom revealed Nick Hughes was the brains behind M-Pesa.

At the time, Hughes was Vodafone's head of social enterprises, which owned 40% of Safaricom.

Former Safaricom chairman Michael Joseph, who served as the company's founding chief executive officer (CEO), described himself as the mother of M-Pesa.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.