Vodacom Raises Growth Targets With Safaricom at Centre of Its Continental Strategy
Vodacom has raised its growth targets following its Safaricom acquisition, confirming the Kenyan operator as the group's primary continental growth engine. The revised targets signal a strategic reorientation around East Africa's dominant mobile money platform.
Vodacom-Safaricom: a ZAR100 billion bet that Ethiopia works
Vodacom just lifted its 2030 revenue target by ZAR100 billion — from ZAR200 billion to ZAR300 billion — within weeks of taking a controlling 55% stake in Safaricom.
That jump isn't really about Kenya, where M-PESA already processes roughly US$548 billion in transactions a year. Kenya is the proven asset. The upgraded ambition only makes sense if Ethiopia comes good.
Safaricom has poured KSh158 billion into that market and is still losing money, though losses more than halved last year and management expects break-even by March 2027. Vodacom is essentially telling investors: we believe that timeline, and we're pricing it in now.
That's the number worth watching — not the ownership percentage, not the governance reshuffle. If Ethiopia reaches break-even on schedule, this is a landmark continental bet that paid off. If it slips, that ZAR300 billion target starts to look like a wish.
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- Vodacom’s Higher Growth Targets Put Safaricom at the Heart of Its Next Chapter · techtrendske.co.ke · T2