{"id":43981,"date":"2025-12-04T05:42:52","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=43981"},"modified":"2025-12-04T05:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:42:52","slug":"275218","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/12\/04\/275218\/","title":{"rendered":"Vodacom to take control of Safaricom in R36-billion deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_269142\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-269142\" style=\"width: 1500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-269142 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Vodacom-to-take-control-of-Safaricom-in-R36-billion-deal.jpg?resize=640%2C341&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Vodacom to take control of Safaricom in R36-billion deal - Shameel Joosub\" width=\"640\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Vodacom-to-take-control-of-Safaricom-in-R36-billion-deal.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-1024x546.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-768x410.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-450x240.jpg 450w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shameel-joosub-1500-800-1-1200x640.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-269142\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Vodacom Group<\/strong> has moved to cement its position in East Africa with a R36-billion transaction that will see it take majority control of Safaricom, one of the continent\u2019s most valuable telecommunications operators and fintech players.<\/p>\n<p>The Johannesburg-headquartered group said on Thursday it has reached an agreement with the government of Kenya to acquire a 15% stake in Safaricom, and a further 5% from parent company Vodafone, at KSh34\/share.<\/p>\n<p>The deal, worth US$2.1-billion (about R36-billion), will lift Vodacom\u2019s shareholding in Safaricom from 35% to 55% \u2014 giving it a controlling interest for the first time.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">Vodacom will consolidate Safaricom\u2019s financial results, boosting its reported revenue to roughly R220-billion<br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The transaction is still subject to regulatory and governmental approvals in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa. Safaricom will remain listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Once completed, Vodacom will consolidate Safaricom\u2019s financial results. That will boost Vodacom\u2019s reported revenue to roughly R220-billion, further entrenching the group as one of Africa\u2019s largest telecoms operators.<\/p>\n<p>Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said the move represents a \u201cpivotal step\u201d in the group\u2019s Vision2030 strategy, which aims to deepen its presence in fast-growth African markets while scaling digital and financial services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcquiring a controlling stake in Safaricom strengthens our position as a market leader, while unlocking new opportunities to drive digital and financial inclusion at scale in Kenya and Ethiopia,\u201d Joosub said. \u201cSafaricom\u2019s outstanding track record and differentiated growth outlook perfectly complement our Vision2030 ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>M-Pesa success<\/h2>\n<p>Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa welcomed the increased investment from Vodacom, noting the longstanding relationship between the parties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir confidence in Safaricom is a testament to the strength of our people, our strategy and the opportunities ahead,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cWe look forward to deepening our collaboration as we scale innovation, expand regionally and deliver transformative digital and financial services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Safaricom is regarded as one of Africa\u2019s premier telecoms and fintech assets, built on the success of its M-Pesa mobile money platform. The company continues to post industry-leading margins and strong cash generation, while its expansion into Ethiopia \u2013 a market of more than 120 million people \u2013 is expected to drive long-term growth.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: Four years later, Vodacom and Maziv have sealed their deal<\/h3>\n<p>Kenya\u2019s national treasury said the deal aligns with Nairobi\u2019s plan to unlock capital without adding to the country\u2019s debt burden. The government will retain a 20% stake and board representation.\u00a0 \u2013 <em>\u00a9 2025 NewsCentral Media<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp.\u00a0<\/em><em>Sign up here<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Vodacom #control #Safaricom #R36billion #deal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub Vodacom Group has moved to cement its position in East Africa with a R36-billion transaction&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43983,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43981\/revisions\/43983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}