Safaricom Ethiopia's 14.7 Million Customers Keep March 2027 EBITDA Break-Even Within Reach
Safaricom Ethiopia reached 14.7 million active customers in June 2026, strengthening its path toward EBITDA profitability by March 2027 and adding fresh evidence that the company’s largest expansion outside Kenya is moving into a more sustainable phase. The operator added just over one million active customers during the quarter, extending momentum across voice, data and mobile money while continuing to narrow operating losses.
The latest customer figures arrive only weeks after Vodacom completed its acquisition of a controlling stake in Safaricom and raised its long-term financial ambitions. That timing places greater attention on Ethiopia, where improving operating performance is expected to become a more meaningful contributor to the group’s future earnings.
Safaricom ended June with 14.7 million three-month active customers, up from 13.63 million at the end of March and 10.06 million a year earlier. The 46.1 percent annual increase reflects continued demand for the operator’s services despite a market that has historically been dominated by the state-owned incumbent.
The customer gains extend beyond headline subscriber numbers. Voice customers reached 12.03 million, while active data users climbed to 11.52 million, showing that new subscribers are also becoming regular users of the network rather than remaining inactive SIM registrations.
That distinction matters because sustained customer activity creates more opportunities to generate revenue from calls, mobile internet and digital services, helping the business absorb the significant investment made since commercial operations began.
Safaricom Ethiopia’s financial performance continues to be led by its core telecom business.
During the financial year ended March 2026, service revenue reached KSh14.08 billion. Data remained the largest contributor after generating KSh9.56 billion, while voice revenue rose 156.3 percent year over year to KSh3.01 billion. Messaging and fixed services made smaller but growing contributions.
Those figures illustrate where customer demand is strongest. Mobile internet has become the company’s largest commercial engine as smartphone adoption expands and subscribers consume more digital services. Voice traffic also continues to grow, giving the operator two established revenue streams as it works toward profitability.
The improvement is already visible in the company’s financial results. Annual losses fell to KSh21.2 billion during the year ended March 2026, less than half the level recorded a year earlier, supported by higher customer activity, tariff adjustments introduced in late 2025 and better operating efficiency.
Mobile money continues to expand, although it remains at an earlier stage than the telecom business.
M-PESA reached 5.69 million active customers by the end of June, but revenue remained modest at KSh100 million during the last financial year. That gap reflects the nature of Ethiopia’s payments market rather than a lack of investment by Safaricom.
Cash remains the dominant method of payment across much of the country, particularly for everyday transactions. Building a digital payments ecosystem therefore requires more than attracting users. Merchant acceptance, consumer habits and enterprise adoption also need to develop before transaction volumes translate into stronger financial returns.
Safaricom has continued investing in that foundation through merchant payments, enterprise solutions and financial inclusion initiatives, positioning M-PESA as part of a broader digital ecosystem instead of treating it as a standalone payments product.
Ethiopia’s progress now carries greater weight following Vodacom’s decision to increase its ownership of Safaricom to 55 percent.
After completing the transaction, Vodacom raised its Vision 2030 revenue ambition from more than ZAR200 billion to more than ZAR300 billion and lifted its medium-term EBITDA growth targets. Those revisions indicate that Safaricom, including its Ethiopian business, is expected to play a larger role in supporting future earnings and cash generation across the group.
Safaricom has invested about KSh158 billion in Ethiopia since entering the market, making it one of the group’s largest long-term investments. As customer numbers continue rising and losses decline, the operation is moving beyond its initial network rollout phase toward one where operational performance becomes a more important measure of success.
Management continues to target EBITDA break-even by March 2027, a milestone that would show the Ethiopian business is generating enough operating earnings to cover its day-to-day costs before accounting for financing expenses, taxes and depreciation.
The business still faces challenges. Inflation has picked up, while the Ethiopian birr has weakened against the U.S. dollar, increasing the cost of imported network equipment and infrastructure. Even so, subscriber growth has remained strong, revenue continues to expand and operating losses are falling at a steady pace.
Taken together, those developments suggest Safaricom Ethiopia is entering a different stage of its growth journey. The emphasis is gradually moving from rapid network expansion toward improving operational performance, deepening customer engagement and building a business capable of contributing meaningfully to both Safaricom’s and Vodacom’s long-term financial ambitions.
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