Safaricom has started paying shareholders its final Sh46.08 billion dividend ahead of the official September 4 payment date, giving investors early access to the telecoms giant’s record payout.
The company approved a final dividend of Sh1.15 per share at its July 31 annual general meeting for shareholders on the register by the August 4 book closure date. Together with the Sh0.85 interim dividend paid in March, the full-year dividend totals Sh2 per share.
The overall distribution of Sh80.13 billion is 66.7 percent higher than the Sh48.08 billion paid for the previous financial year, making it the largest dividend payout in Safaricom’s history.
The bumper payout follows a 37.2 percent jump in net profit to Sh95.6 billion for the year ended March 2026, driven by stronger M-Pesa earnings and significantly lower losses from Safaricom Ethiopia.
The final dividend alone amounts to Sh46.08 billion, compared with Sh26.04 billion a year earlier.
Safaricom has previously paid dividends ahead of schedule, including in 2024, as it shifted from cheque payments to electronic transfers through bank accounts, Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and M-Pesa.
The payout also marks the end of a three-year period during which the telco kept its dividend unchanged as heavy investment in Ethiopia and the depreciation of the Ethiopian birr weighed on group earnings.
Safaricom Ethiopia, which launched commercial operations in 2022, has narrowed its losses and is expected to break even in the financial year ending March 2027, easing one of the biggest drags on group profitability. Kenya remains Safaricom’s main earnings engine, with M-Pesa, mobile data and fixed connectivity continuing to drive growth as voice and SMS revenues mature.
M-Pesa generated Sh182.7 billion in revenue during the year to March 2026 and processed transactions worth Sh41.68 trillion, underscoring its growing contribution to group earnings.
