Vodacom Group Limited has announced the completion of its acquisition of an additional 20% of Safaricom, giving it control of the Kenyan company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal has gone ahead following the Court of Appeal of Kenya’s 26 June 2026 stay of a conservatory order and the fulfilment of all conditions precedent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom said that its 55% stake allows for consolidation into one of Africa’s foremost telecommunications, financial services, and technology businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The transaction was valued at $2.1 billion (R35 billion) and was first announced in December 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It sees Vodacom acquire a 15% stake from the Government of Kenya and an effective further 5% from the Vodafone Group Plc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kenyan Government will retain a 20% stake in Safaricom, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As per IFRS reporting standards, Safaricom’s financial results will transition from an associate to consolidation for Vodacom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Vodacom Group reported EBITDA of R63 billion at FY26, while Safaricom reported EBITDA of R29 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is a landmark moment for Vodacom, for Safaricom, and for the communities we serve across East Africa,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Acquiring majority ownership in Safaricom strengthens our position as a market leader, while at the same time unlocking new opportunities to drive digital and financial inclusion at scale in Kenya and Ethiopia.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the outstanding track record and differentiated growth outlook perfectly complement its Vision 2030 ambitions, which look to scale into digital and financial services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Safaricom owns the M-Pesa platform, the continent’s leading mobile money and financial services platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
M-Pesa has grown from Kenya into Ethiopia, adding to its customer base by around 14 million people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the acquisition, Vodacom now controls companies across Southern Africa, East Africa and Egypt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Twenty-five years ago, the Government of Kenya made a founding investment in a mobile telephone licence,” said John Mbadi, Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury of Kenya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That investment has grown into Safaricom – a company that has transformed financial inclusion across Africa, connected more than fifty million Kenyans.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mbadi said that the government is now selling a portion of this value to invest in roads, energy, water and airports to mark Kenya’s next stage of growth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vodacom is now the majority shareholder of Safaricom after buying shares from the Kenyan government and Vodafone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":856156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-865034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865038,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865034\/revisions\/865038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}