Vodacom takes the reins at Safaricom — Giraffe against the Nairobi skyline in Kenya

Vodacom Group has completed the acquisition of an additional 20% effective interest in Safaricom, lifting its holding in the Kenyan operator from about 35% to roughly 55% and handing the South African group majority control for the first time since Safaricom listed in 2008.

The transaction closed after Kenya’s court of appeal on 26 June stayed a high court conservatory order that had frozen the deal since March, pending a constitutional challenge brought by a group of Kenyan petitioners.

Crucially, the appeal court did not rule on whether the sale is lawful. It found only that the government had met the threshold for a stay and that the public interest favoured allowing the deal to proceed, leaving the underlying constitutional petitions live before the high court. Opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who has separately moved to halt the sale, said the ruling was not an approval of the transaction and warned that any deal closed while the case remained unresolved was concluded at risk.

Vodacom values the transaction at R35-billion. First announced in December 2025, it sees the group buy a 15% stake from the government of Kenya and an effective further 5% from its own parent, Vodafone Group, both at KSh34/share. The government retains 20% of Safaricom, which remains listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

With majority control, Safaricom’s results will move from being equity-accounted as an associate to full consolidation under IFRS – a shift that materially changes the scale of Vodacom’s reported numbers. Vodacom posted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, of R63-billion in the 2026 financial year, while Safaricom reported Ebitda of R29-billion.

‘Landmark moment’

“This is a landmark moment for Vodacom, for Safaricom and for the communities we serve across East Africa,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub in a statement, adding that majority ownership strengthened the group’s market leadership and supported its Vision 2030 goal of scaling digital and financial inclusion in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Safaricom is widely regarded as one of the continent’s standout operators, anchored by its M-Pesa mobile money platform, with fintech accounting for 44% of the company’s Kenyan revenue. Its newer Ethiopian business has built a customer base of about 14 million, and it has expanded into cloud, the internet of things and enterprise services.

For Kenya, the sale crystallises part of a 25-year-old state investment to help fund infrastructure spending. National treasury cabinet secretary John Mbadi said the proceeds would be channelled into roads, energy systems, water infrastructure and airports, and that the divestment had been carried out lawfully and with the authority of parliament. He insisted Safaricom’s best days lay ahead of it and that “Kenya remains its home”. The government’s share of the proceeds is earmarked for a national infrastructure fund.

Vodacom now operates across a contiguous arc of markets stretching from South Africa through East and Central Africa to Egypt, with Safaricom at the centre of its East African footprint. The group said it would update the market on its medium-term targets on 27 July, when it publishes its first-quarter results. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media