Telecommunications giant Safaricom Plc is increasingly positioning Ethiopia at the center of its long-term strategy as the company expands beyond its already established Kenyan market.
According to the Company’s FY26 results, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia continued to record strong growth in both revenues and customer numbers as network roll out expanded across the country. Service revenue crossed the KES 10 billion mark reaching KES 14.1 billion excluding IAS 29 impact, up 58.3% from the previous year, driven by rapid customer acquisition and rising usage.
Voice revenue grew the fastest at 130.8% to KES 3.0 billion from KES 1.3 billion in FY25. Messaging revenue rose by 82.3% to KES 169.4 million, while mobile data revenue grew by 43.3% to KES 9.6 billion.
Customer growth remained strong, with 90-day active customers surging 54.2% to 13.6 million, while one-month active customers rose sharply by 48.3% to 10.8 million, underscoring the increased adoption and strengthening engagement across the market.
The telco’s fintech, M-PESA recorded strong growth in Ethiopia amid tight competition from established payment particularly Telebirr, Ethio Telecom’s mobile money service. The platform saw its revenue rise by 13.4% to KES 14.4 billion from KES 12.5 billion a year earlier. The value of transactions rose by 38.8% to KES 28.6 billion, while transaction volumes surged 168.7% to 442 million. Total one-month active M-PESA merchants more than doubled to 70,045.
The Ethiopian business unit recorded an 84.0% growth in total revenue to KES 17.4 billion, equivalent to 4.1% of the Group’s total revenue. Losses narrowed by 41.2% to KES 21.2 billion from KES 36.0 billion in FY25.
Safaricom Ethiopia Targets FY27 Break-Even
Despite ongoing losses linked to high startup and expansion costs, Ethiopia represents one of Africa’s largest untapped telecom opportunities, supported by a population of more than 120 million people and relatively low telecom and financial services penetration. The Group projects the Ethiopian business to reach breakeven in FY27 amid challenges including foreign exchange pressures and regulatory uncertainty.
Also Read: M-PESA Contributes Nearly 50% of Safaricom’s Service Revenue
