President William Ruto’s government is selling 15 percent of its Safaricom shares to South Africa’s Vodacom Group. The shares will be sold at Sh34 apiece and will see the government pocket Sh204.3 billion.
This sale will reduce the government’s shareholding in Safaricom from the current stake of 35 percent to a stake of 20 percent.
“The proposed transaction shall be comprised of the acquisition by Vodafone Kenya of the additional shares for a consideration of Sh204.3 billion at a price of Sh34 per share,” Safaricom said in a public notice.
In addition to the Sh204.3 billion that shall be collected from the sale, the government will take Sh40.2 billion in advance dividend to bring its total earnings to Sh244.5 billion.
“[The sale shall include] Vodafone Kenya buying the right to receive future Safaricom dividends for an upfront payment of Sh40.2 billion to the government of Kenya, in lieu of future dividends that will accrue to the government’s residual 20 percent shareholding in Safaricom,” a notice by Safaricom on the sale says.
This advanced dividend payout will amount to a dividend pay at a rate of about Sh6.69 per share. Besides this transaction, South Africa’s Vodacom Group will purchase a 12.5 percent stake that is currently held by Vodafone International Holdings in Vodafone Kenya for Sh68 billion.
This will push Vodacom’s interest in Safaricom to 55 percent while giving the company total ownership of Vodafone Kenya.
“The acquisition by Vodacom of the Vodafone Kenya Shares for a consideration of Sh68.1 billion, resulting in Vodacom owning 100 percent of Vodafone Kenya’s share capital directly and approximately 55 percent of Safaricom’s share capital indirectly.”
Prior to this acquisition, Vodacom has been holding a 40 percent stake in Safaricom while the government has been holding a 35 percent stake. The public has been holding shares equivalent to a stake of 20 percent.
At the same time, Vodafone Kenya which has been holding 16 billion shares equivalent to 39.93 percent in Safaricom has been jointly owned by Vodacom and Vodafone. Vodacom, which is headquartered in Midrand, South Africa, is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE).
Vodafone on the other hand is a private limited liability company which is headquartered in Netherlands. Vodacom and Vodafone are both subsidiaries of the Vodafone Group Plc which is an international telecommunications company that is headquartered in Newbury, England. It operates in 15 countries and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
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The sale at a rate of Sh34 per share will be a premium on the current share price of around Sh28 which the Safaricom has been trading around. As at the end of trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange on December 3, 2025, the counter was trading at an average of Sh28.20 per share with a 52-week high of Sh31 per share and a one-year low of Sh15.10.
The sale of these shares by the government follows the recent Privatization Act of 2025 that was signed into law on October 21, 2025. In this new law, the government has been allowed by Section 74 to sell or dispose part or all of its shares in a government-linked corporation with the approval of the Cabinet following a recommendation from the National Treasury.
“Completion of the proposed transaction is [now] subject to approval from governmental and regulatory authorities including the Kenyan cabinet, Kenyan National Assembly, Capital Markets Authority, Communications Authority of Kenya, the Central Bank of Kenya, COMESA Competition Commission, and the East African Community Competition Authority,” Safaricom stated in its notice.
