Safaricom Plc's shareholding in its Ethiopian subsidiary Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia (STE) slipped to 54.09 per cent in the six months to September after a KSh25 billion new funding round for the business.
The equity stake fell from 54.17 per cent in March, while cumulative funding in STE rose 3.4 per cent to KSh164.3 billion from KSh158.8 billion. Total funding, including debt, increased 7.2 per cent to KSh369.2 billion from KSh344.1 billion in March.
The decline reflects a smaller equity contribution by Safaricom relative to co-investors Vodacom, Sumitomo Corporation, British International Investment (BII) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Vodacom's share fell from 6.02 per cent to 6.01 per cent; Sumitomo's rose from 23.5 per cent to 23.56 per cent; BII's from 9.5 per cent to 9.52 per cent; IFC's from 6.81 per cent to 6.82 per cent.
Debt funding for STE grew by KSh14.2 billion, comprising KSh4.8 billion in local-currency (Birr) financing and KSh9.4 billion in foreign-currency loans from IFC, Standard Bank and Absa Group. Equity funding rose to KSh10.7 billion, taking total equity to KSh307.6 billion from KSh296.8 billion in March.
Safaricom's shareholding has risen from 51.67 per cent in March 2025 to 54.17 per cent in March 2026, but co-investors retain a right to purchase an additional 2.78 per cent stake lost in the financial year to March 2026, meaning Safaricom's ownership may stay limited. The subsidiary is expected to rely mainly on debt as it approaches profitability.
Chief finance and innovation officer Dilip Pal said part of the new funding settled outstanding vendor obligations and that the business secured KSh5.1 billion of local-currency debt and KSh7.7 billion of foreign-currency debt to fund ongoing operations, adding that the unit remains well funded with a growing focus on debt financing.
Losses at STE narrowed 96.5 per cent to KSh434.4 million in the six months to September, putting the unit on the brink of breaking even by March 2027. CEO Wim Vanhelleputte said growth is driven by three levers: more users, higher usage and increased rates.
