(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Safaricom has begun paying shareholders its final dividend of KES 46.08 billion (about $351 million / £276 million / €322 million) ahead of the official 4th September payment date, giving investors early access to the telecommunications firm’s record payout.
The company approved a final dividend of KES 1.15 per share at its 31st July annual general meeting for shareholders on the register by the 4th August book closure date. Together with the KES 0.85 interim dividend paid in March, the full year dividend totals KES 2 per share.
The overall distribution of KES 80.13 billion (about $610 million / £480 million / €560 million) is 66.7% higher than the KES 48.08 billion (about $366 million / £288 million / €336 million) paid for the previous financial year, making it the largest dividend payout in Safaricom’s history.
The bumper payout follows a 37.2% jump in net profit to KES 95.6 billion (about $728 million / £572 million / €668 million) 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 KES 46.08 billion, compared with KES 26.04 billion (about $198 million / £156 million / €182 million) 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 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 KES 182.7 billion (about $1.39 billion / £1.09 billion / €1.28 billion) in revenue during the year to March 2026 and processed transactions worth KES 41.68 trillion (about $318 billion / £250 billion / €292 billion), showing its growing contribution to group earnings.