Safaricom revenue has risen to Sh414 billion, while Net Income rose to KES 100 billion for the year ended March 2026. The revenue growth was driven by continued customer growth, increased adoption of digital services, and solid performance across core product lines.
As part of its FY26 results, Safaricom announced dividend payout of 2 shillings per share, totalling KES 80.1 billion, representing a 66.7% increase from the previous year. This comprises an interim dividend of 85 cents per share, and a recommended final dividend of 1 shilling 15 cents per share, subject to shareholder approval, underscoring the company’s resilient balance sheet and confidence in its long term growth outlook.
“We have shown strong execution in the first year of our five-year strategy, signalling a great setup for delivering our vision. We delivered strong performance, with acceleration in the second half, surpassing Group guidance with outstanding Kenya performance offsetting the impact of currency reforms and the timing of market repair actions in Ethiopia,” said Peter Ndegwa, Group CEO, Safaricom PLC.
During the year, Safaricom Kenya service revenue increased by 10% to KES 400.8 billion, while Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) grew by 15.3% to KES 182.3 billion.
Safaricom reached a total of 71.6 million customers across the Group, reflecting continued trust in the brand and strong demand for digital connectivity and financial services.
“These results reflect a business that continues to demonstrate resilience and momentum. We have sustained strong growth in service revenue, driven by double digit growth in Kenya and accelerated growth in Ethiopia, while maintaining profitability despite continued investment in Ethiopia. At the same time, we are beginning to see the benefits of scale in Ethiopia, with improving commercial momentum and narrowing start up costs. This balance, growth, investment, and discipline, is exactly what the Board expects at this stage of our journey,” said Adil Khawaja, Chairman, Safaricom PLC.
Safaricom Ethiopia continued its growth momentum, contributing 12.5% to the Group’s service revenue growth during the year. Subscriber numbers in Ethiopia increased to 13.6 million customers, supported by a stronger network now covering 60% of the population with 3,504 sites. M PESA adoption in Kenya also accelerated, with 41 million active customers generating a total of KES 182.7 billion in revenue during the year under review.
Guided by its purpose of transforming lives, Safaricom continued to invest in social impact initiatives across Kenya and Ethiopia. Through the Safaricom and M PESA Foundations, over 4.4 million lives were transformed during FY26 through programmes focused on education, health, and economic empowerment.
“We continue to invest in our network and IT systems to support capacity upgrades and user experience. Ethiopia’s performance shows reduced losses relative to the previous period, greatly boosting Group performance. We now move into the second year of our Vision 2030 strategy with a commitment to carry on our execution momentum,” said Dilip Pal, Group Chief Finance Officer, Safaricom PLC.
What the FY26 Results Mean for Safaricom Revenue Growth
The FY26 performance further cements Safaricom’s position as East Africa’s most profitable telecommunications company and one of the Nairobi Securities Exchange’s most valuable firms. The strong growth in Safaricom Revenue comes at a time when many businesses across the region continue to face pressure from currency volatility, inflationary costs, and subdued consumer spending.
The company’s Group Service Revenue growth of 11.5% to KES 414.1 billion signals a major acceleration from the previous financial year, reflecting increased consumer reliance on mobile connectivity, mobile money services, and digital platforms. Based on the reported growth rate, Safaricom’s Group Service Revenue in FY25 stood at approximately KES 371.4 billion, meaning the company added more than KES 42 billion in additional revenue within a single year.
One of the strongest drivers of Safaricom Revenue continues to be M-PESA, which has evolved beyond a mobile money platform into a comprehensive financial ecosystem. M-PESA revenue grew by 13.4% to KES 182.7 billion from roughly KES 161.1 billion the previous year, translating into an increase of more than KES 21 billion year-on-year.
This means M-PESA now contributes approximately 44% of Safaricom’s total service revenue, underlining the central role financial technology continues to play in the company’s long-term strategy. The growth also reflects rising adoption of merchant payments, digital credit products, savings platforms, and cross-border transactions.
Kenya’s digital payments ecosystem has expanded rapidly over the last decade, with the Central Bank of Kenya consistently reporting trillions of shillings processed annually through mobile money channels. Safaricom remains the dominant player in this segment, supported by its extensive agent network and strong brand loyalty.
Mobile data revenue also recorded significant growth, rising 18.3% to KES 92.9 billion. This reflects increasing smartphone penetration, rising demand for video streaming, social media usage, cloud-based services, and digital commerce across Kenya and the region.
The continued growth in data consumption is particularly important for Safaricom Revenue because it demonstrates the company’s successful transition from a traditional voice and SMS telecommunications provider into a broader technology and digital services company. Voice revenues across global telecom markets have generally stagnated over the years as consumers shift toward internet-based communication platforms.
Industry analysts have increasingly noted that telecommunications companies with strong fintech and data businesses are better positioned for future growth than operators still heavily dependent on traditional voice revenues. Safaricom’s latest results reinforce this trend.
Another major highlight in the FY26 results is the progress being made in Ethiopia. Safaricom Ethiopia’s service revenue grew by 86.6% to KES 14.1 billion, making it one of the fastest growing business units within the Group. Based on the reported growth rate, Ethiopia generated approximately KES 7.6 billion in service revenue during the previous year, indicating that revenue nearly doubled within 12 months.
The Ethiopian market represents one of the biggest long-term opportunities for Safaricom Revenue growth. Ethiopia has a population of more than 120 million people, making it Africa’s second most populous country after Nigeria. For decades, the country’s telecom sector was dominated by a state monopoly before liberalisation opened the market to foreign competition.
Although Safaricom Ethiopia continues to require substantial capital investment in infrastructure and customer acquisition, the latest results suggest the business is beginning to move closer toward commercial sustainability. The reduction in startup losses and the increase in customer numbers to 13.6 million indicate improving operational efficiency and growing consumer acceptance.
Network expansion has also been critical to this growth. Safaricom Ethiopia now covers 60% of the population with 3,504 operational sites, a significant infrastructure rollout achieved within a relatively short period. The rollout of M-PESA services in Ethiopia is also expected to become a major future revenue catalyst once mobile money adoption deepens further in the market.
The dividend payout announcement is also likely to be welcomed positively by investors. The total dividend payout of KES 80.1 billion marks a 66.7% increase from the previous year and reinforces Safaricom’s reputation as one of the strongest dividend-paying companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
For institutional investors, pension funds, and retail shareholders, the strong payout demonstrates confidence by management in the sustainability of future earnings and cash flow generation. It also comes at a time when investors at the NSE have increasingly prioritised stable dividend-paying stocks amid broader market volatility.
Safaricom’s EBIT growth of 15.3% to KES 182.3 billion is equally significant because it shows the company is not only growing revenue, but also improving profitability and operational efficiency. This is particularly notable given the ongoing investments being made in Ethiopia and the continued costs associated with network upgrades and technology infrastructure.
The company’s customer base growth to 71.6 million across the Group further strengthens its market leadership position in East Africa’s telecommunications and digital financial services sectors. The scale advantage gives Safaricom stronger pricing power, greater ecosystem integration, and higher resilience against competitive pressures.
Looking ahead, analysts are likely to closely monitor Safaricom’s Vision 2030 strategy, especially the pace of profitability in Ethiopia, expansion of digital financial products, artificial intelligence integration, enterprise services growth, and continued data monetisation.
With mobile connectivity increasingly becoming central to banking, education, healthcare, e-commerce, and entertainment, Safaricom Revenue growth reflects broader digital transformation trends across East Africa. The FY26 results therefore not only highlight strong corporate performance, but also demonstrate the growing importance of telecommunications infrastructure and fintech innovation in shaping the region’s economic future.
ALSO READ: Britam pre-tax profits up 52% to Sh7.3B on strong investment and revenue gains
