For the primary time, extra Safaricom prospects now depend on its M-Pesa cellular cash service than on its conventional cellular community, signalling a serious shift within the firm’s enterprise mannequin.
Within the six months to September (H1 FY26), Kenya’s largest telco reported 37.9 million one-month lively M-Pesa customers, in contrast with 37.5 million cellular subscribers, per its newest investor presentation. Information service subscribers stood at 31.9 million.
Its cellular cash additionally generated extra income than core telco companies like calls, knowledge, and textual content. The platform reported KES 88.1 billion ($676.9), pushed by larger transaction volumes and a rising service provider community. That determine exceeds the entire income from cellular knowledge ($309.6 million), cellular voice ($305 million), and messaging ($42.2 million) over the identical interval.
M-Pesa now accounts for 44% of complete service revenues, pointing to the rising significance of the cellular cash service to Safaricom.
The telco has been increasing the spine of its cellular cash by introducing service provider options, insurance coverage, and wealth administration merchandise. Within the interval, the variety of companies accepting M-Pesa funds rose to 2.4 million, protecting SMEs throughout the nation. Its agent community stood at 319,300 lively brokers; a footprint bigger than that of all different financial-sector service suppliers in Kenya, together with banks, mixed.
Within the six months, the corporate reported a 52.1% rise in revenue to KES 42.8 billion ($331 million), helped by M-PESA enterprise and a discount in losses from its Ethiopian unit. Complete income rose 8.1% to KES 204.7 billion ($1.58 billion), supported by an 11.1% soar in service income to KES 199.9 billion ($1.54 billion). Cell companies grew 14% over the interval.
Calls to separate M-Pesa
Kenya’s Nationwide Treasury and the Central Financial institution of Kenya (CBK) have been pushing Safaricom to spin off M-Pesa right into a standalone subsidiary to present regulators extra management.
In August, the Treasury Secretary advised Bloomberg that the plan to separate Safaricom into three separate items—its core telecom enterprise, a tower firm, and the cellular cash large M-Pesa—was in movement, a transfer that would additionally contain the state promoting a part of its 35% stake within the firm.
Nonetheless, Safaricom prefers a bunch reorganisation that retains M-Pesa underneath the identical company umbrella, arguing {that a} full spin-off would solely make sense if it provides worth for shareholders and prospects, to not meet regulatory calls for.
On November 12, Vodacom Group, which holds a 40% stake in Safaricom, dominated out splitting M-Pesa from the core enterprise and itemizing it individually, regardless of stress from Kenyan authorities.
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