NAIROBI, Kenya — Safaricom, Kenya’s leading telecom operator, reported a 55 percent rise in half-year profit, driven by steady domestic growth and reduced losses from its Ethiopia operations.
The company posted an operating profit of KSh 65.2 billion ($505.6 million) for the six months ending September 2025, maintaining its full-year guidance. Group service revenue climbed to KSh 199.9 billion, up from KSh 179.9 billion in the same period last year.
Safaricom’s mobile money platform M-Pesa remained a key growth engine, with revenue increasing to KSh 88.1 billion, compared to KSh 77.2 billion a year earlier.
The company’s Ethiopia unit, launched in 2022 after market liberalization, posted a 59 percent reduction in losses, reflecting improved performance despite earlier challenges from the depreciation of the Ethiopian birr.
Safaricom, partly owned by Vodacom Group of South Africa and Britain’s Vodafone, expects its expansion in Africa’s second most populous country to drive future growth and diversify earnings beyond its home market