Safaricom’s share price has climbed to Sh34, matching the level at which the Treasury agreed to offload a 15 percent stake in the telecoms giant to South Africa’s Vodacom Group.
The rally means the market has, in just over two months, effectively bridged the premium the government said it secured in the transaction. The State stands to pocket Sh204.3 billion from the sale of six billion shares, alongside an additional Sh40.2 billion as an upfront dividend payment tied to its remaining 20 percent holding. That lifts the total proceeds to Sh244.5 billion.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi previously indicated that the Sh34 price was determined by applying a premium to Safaricom’s prevailing market value on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The agreed figure reflected an 18.4 percent premium to the telco’s 90-day average price up to December 2, 2025, the day before Vodacom tabled its offer, and a 33.9 percent premium to the average price in the 90 days preceding the filing.
When Safaricom’s board was notified of the Treasury-Vodacom agreement on December 3, 2025, the stock had closed at Sh28.2. It began climbing the following day, eventually touching Sh34 on Thursday, buoyed by robust earnings and a sharply higher interim dividend. The counter traded between Sh33.3 and Sh34 before settling at an average of Sh33.85, according to market data.
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Vodacom chief executive Shameel Joosub told investors the group believed it had secured favourable terms, noting that previous attempts to increase its stake when the share price was lower had not succeeded. He was responding to queries about why Vodacom had not acquired Vodafone Group’s five percent stake in 2024. The company is now purchasing that stake at the same Sh34 per share price.
The surge in Safaricom’s valuation has been linked to strong financial performance. The firm lifted its interim dividend by 54.5 percent to Sh0.85 per share from Sh0.55, closely tracking a 52.1 percent jump in half-year net profit to Sh42.7 billion for the period ended September 2025. Growth was largely driven by double-digit expansion in M-Pesa’s financial services business.
In total, Safaricom will distribute Sh34.05 billion in interim dividends, with the government set to receive Sh11.92 billion based on its current 35 percent stake.
