Safaricom announces record Ksh.80.13B shareholder payout for FY2026

The total dividend for the year comes to Ksh.2.00 per share, following an interim dividend of Ksh.0.85 per share paid in March 2026, and is the largest payout in the company's history. 

The payout comes as Safaricom's share price continued to rise: the stock closed the financial year up 50.3 per cent, taking the company's market value to Ksh.1.10 trillion by 31 March 2026, and it has risen further since, with Safaricom's market capitalisation touching Ksh.1.44 trillion in the weeks leading into this year's 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, Safaricom PLC.

For three years running, Safaricom held its dividend steady as it absorbed the set-up costs in Ethiopia and weathered the effects of the Birr's depreciation, following the foreign exchange reforms introduced by the Ethiopian government in 2024.

This year's increase reflects a business that has come through that period of investment, with Safaricom Ethiopia now on track to break even in the coming financial year.

The final dividend will be payable on or about 4th September 2026 to Shareholders on the Register of Members as at the close of business on 4th August 2026.

Including this year's payout, Safaricom shareholders will have received approximately Ksh.280 billion in cumulative dividends over the past five years, a trajectory the company hopes to continue as it executes its Vision 2030.

Now in the first year of Vision 2030, Safaricom is positioning itself to grow beyond a traditional telecom operator into a broader technology company.

Its priorities include making customer experience simpler and more personal, using artificial intelligence to serve customers better, expanding high-speed broadband and 4G and 5G coverage, and putting affordable smartphones into millions more hands, alongside the continued growth of M-PESA and the wider financial services it offers.

"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,” said Adil Khawaja, Chairman of the Board, Safaricom PLC "

The shareholding changes followed Vodacom Group’s acquisition of an additional 15 per cent stake, through Vodafone Kenya Limited, from Government of Kenya alongside an internal restructuring.

Vodacom shareholding now stands at 55 per cent, with the Government of Kenya retaining 20 per cent and the investing public holding the remaining 25 per cent.

Shareholders also re-elected Edward Okaro to the Board and re-appointed Ernst & Young as the company's external auditors as well as approving several special resolutions meant to give legal effect to the new shareholding structure.