Safaricom shareholders approved a final dividend of KSh1.15 per share at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting on 31 July, taking its total payout for the 2026 financial year to a record KSh80.13 billion.
The final dividend follows an interim payment of KSh0.85 per share made in March, bringing the total FY26 dividend to KSh2.00 per share for the year ended 31 March 2026, the largest annual payout in the company’s history.
The declaration comes as Safaricom’s share price has continued to climb. The stock closed the financial year up 50.3%, lifting the company’s market value to KSh1.10 trillion by 31 March, and has since risen further, touching KSh1.44 trillion (roughly $11.1 billion) in the weeks leading into the AGM.
“This has been a defining year for us. We marked 25 years of connecting and driving transformation through our services and community involvement. We did this while delivering our strongest financial performance yet,” said Dr Peter Ndegwa, Group CEO of Safaricom.
The company held its dividend flat for three consecutive years while absorbing set-up costs in Ethiopia and managing the effects of the birr’s depreciation following foreign exchange reforms introduced by the Ethiopian government in 2024. Safaricom said this year’s increase reflects the business emerging from that investment period, with its Ethiopian subsidiary now on track to reach break-even in the coming financial year.
Including this year’s payout, Safaricom shareholders have received approximately KSh280 billion in cumulative dividends over the past five years.
The AGM also marked the formal close of Vodacom Group’s move to majority ownership. Adil Khawaja, Chairman of the Board, said the completed transaction deepens a long-standing partnership. “We were equally pleased to note the completion of the transaction increasing Vodacom Group’s shareholding in Safaricom this year. It deepens a partnership that goes back to our earliest years, and gives us access to the scale, expertise and regional reach of one of Africa’s leading technology groups as we build towards 2030,” Khawaja said.
The ownership change followed Vodacom’s acquisition, through Vodafone Kenya Limited, of an additional 15% stake from the Government of Kenya, alongside an internal restructuring. Vodacom’s shareholding now stands at 55%, with the Government of Kenya retaining 20% and public investors holding the remaining 25%.
Shareholders also re-elected Edward Okaro to the board, re-appointed Ernst & Young as external auditor, and approved a series of special resolutions giving legal effect to the new shareholding structure, including governance provisions on CEO nomination rights, board composition and government consent over strategic decisions.
The final dividend is payable on or about 4 September 2026 to shareholders on the register as at close of business on 4 August 2026.
Safaricom reported service revenue of KSh414 billion for the year to March 2026. Its M-PESA platform, which the company describes as Africa’s largest fintech, generated KSh182.7 billion in revenue and processed transactions worth KSh41.68 trillion , equivalent to 2.4 times the size of Kenya’s economy. Financial inclusion in Kenya, driven largely by M-PESA, has risen to 83.7% of the adult population, up from 26.7% in 2006.
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