Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia now serves 13.9 million one-month active customers, the company has revealed in its HY27 financial results, marking a 22.3 per cent increase in customers using its network over the past year.
The figures, which measure customers who engaged with the network within a 30-day period, were disclosed alongside the company’s 90-day active customer count, which rose 38.4 per cent to 13.43 million. The two measurements track different activity windows and should not be combined, as they may include overlapping users.
The customer growth translated into strong revenue expansion for the Ethiopian operation.
“Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia maintained strong growth momentum, with service revenue increasing 71.6% YoY to KShs 10.62B, supported by robust customer acquisition, increased service adoption and a larger customer base. Data revenue remained the largest revenue contributor at 74.0% of service revenue, growing 90.2% to KShs 7.85B, supported by growth in active data customers and higher data usage. Overall customer acquisition remained strong, with 90-day active customers increasing 38.4% to 13.43M and one-month active customers reaching 22.3% to 13.9M.
“Fixed and wholesale revenue more than doubled to KShs 195.0M. Losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation decreased significantly by 96.5% to KShs 434.4M, while operating loss before interest and tax declined 53.4% to KShs 11.35B. This performance reflects the growing scale of the Ethiopian business as it deepens customer adoption and diversifies its revenue base,” the report read.
The results underscored Safaricom’s deepening footprint in Ethiopia, where it has been the sole private operator competing against state-owned Ethio Telecom since launching commercial services in October 2022. The company has previously identified a customer base of between 15 million and 20 million as a critical threshold for commercial viability.
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Data services have become the primary engine of the Ethiopian business, accounting for 74 per cent of service revenue. The KSh7.85 billion in data revenue represented 90.2 per cent growth year-on-year, driven by higher usage and an expanding base of active data customers.
Group-level performance has benefited from the Ethiopian unit’s improving trajectory. Safaricom reported group net income rising 35.9 per cent to KSh58.2 billion for the six months to September 2026, with Ethiopia contributing 17 per cent of service revenue growth.
“The Ethiopian operation’s EBITDA loss narrowed by 96.5 per cent to KSh434.4 million, bringing it closer to its target of breaking even on that measure by the end of the current financial year.
Fixed and wholesale revenue more than doubled to KSh195 million, though it remained a small fraction of overall service revenue. The report did not disclose the total number of registered subscribers or the exact count of active data customers in Ethiopia.
Safaricom’s Ethiopia expansion has been funded through a total investment of approximately US$2.84 billion, comprising equity and debt, as the company works towards a more sustainable capital structure that includes greater use of local currency borrowing.
