Interesting take the mpesa back story. For those interested in the current state of the mobile money industry in Africa and other developing countries I can recommend GSMA [1].
While I think the "send money home" value proposition story in Kenya was crucial, it doesn't really explain why mobile money works (or doesn't work) as a service. This is basically all to do with massive agent networks. The business model isn't as easy to get going as people assume, and most telcos failed to pull it off. Regulation (or lack of it) was also very critical for Kenya's success.
In general mobile money is fascinating to examine though. And it's an absolute game changer in Kenya!