Safaricom which has been the dominant player in the Kenyan telcom sector, reasserted its dominance with an 11.8% rise in the number of subscribers to hit 50 Million in 2025. This figure rose from the 44.7 million subscribers that were reported in 2024.
For those who may not know, Safaricom rose from humble beginnings where it started out as a department in Telkom Kenya in 1999. Telkom Kenya on its part was created after the Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation (KPTC) a government parastatal which in charge of telecommunication and postal services in the country was split into three entities. That is Telkom Kenya, Posta and Communication Commission of Kenya.
In the year 2000, Vodafone which saw a viable investment opportunity bought 40% shares in Safaricom after which it was officially launched in October of the same year. By 2001, the telco had 26,000 subscribers and by 2003 it had already gotten 54% of the market share. This was largely driven by the launch of Simu ya Jamii at a time when phones were a luxury which proved to be an instant hit with the market. They also implemented per second billing at a time when the competition was charging per minute which proved to be very expensive for a majority of the people.
Since this time, the telco has grown in leaps and bounds with various innovative products launched over the years. Key among them being M-Pesa which was launched in March 2007, the money transfer platform turned out to be the goose which laid the golden egg. This is because by the end of that year their market share had hit 65.4%.
Over the years, they have had many firsts including being the first telco to launch the 3G service in 2007. They also partnered with NCBA to launch the M-Shwari savings and loans products in 2012, this product has now grown to having 32 million users and over Ksh. 787 Billion being disbursed so far. 2019 saw the launch of Fuliza which allows M-Pesa customers to complete transactions when they have insufficient funds. This service has grown to has 33.4 million users with loans disbursed being Ksh. 2.9 trillion making it the largest single digital credit product by volume in Kenya.
On matters network coverage, Safaricom is the market leader with 2G coverage standing at 98.6% while 4G standing at 97.9% and 1,700 active 5G sites.
This year, M-Pesa has had 37.15 Billion transactions which were valued at Ksh. 38.29 Trillion. To accomplish this, the M-Pesa platform was enhanced to enable 4,500 transactions per second.
To ensure that Kenyans are able to conduct their business online, Safaricom has laid 18,300 Kilometers of fibre. This makes the telco the market leader in the fibre to the home category with 649,289 homes connected to the internet.
Safaricom is also rated as East Africa’s most profitable company having garnered a Ksh. 69.8 Billion net profit for the financial year 2024/2025. Which saw their shareholders earning Ksh. 48.08 Billion in dividends which was better than any telco or even any other company in the Kenyan market.