M-Pesa Pushes Safaricom Half-Year Profit To Sh58.2 Billion

Safaricom's half-year profit rose sharply, helped by strong M-Pesa transactions.

The group reported net income of Sh58.2 billion for the six months to September 2026, up 35.9% from the same period last year. Group service revenue rose 13.1% to Sh226.1 billion, while operating profit rose 39.8% to Sh91.1 billion.

The biggest driver was M-Pesa.

M-Pesa revenue rose 13.6% to Sh100.1 billion, crossing the Sh100 billion mark for the first time in a half-year period. The platform processed 27.4 billion transactions, up 25.2%, with their combined value rising 16.6% to Sh23.6 trillion.

That growth came as M-Pesa moved beyond simple person-to-person transfers into merchant payments, credit, savings and investments. Its upgraded infrastructure can now support up to 6,000 transactions per second.

Consumer payments remained the largest contributor, generating Sh40.8 billion, up 14%. Business payments rose 14.7% to Sh31 billion, while financial services grew fastest, up 55.3% to Sh7.1 billion. About 53% of all M-Pesa transactions remained free or zero-rated, including 81% of Lipa na M-Pesa and Pochi la Biashara merchant transactions.

In Kenya, service revenue grew 11.3% to Sh216 billion, with earnings before interest and tax crossing the Sh100 billion mark for the first time in a half-year, reaching Sh101.8 billion. Kenya remains the group's main profit engine, with net earnings up 13.8% to Sh66.3 billion.

Ethiopia is also improving. Its service revenue surged 71.6% to Sh10.6 billion, and its net loss narrowed by 43.2% to Sh8.8 billion.

That is why Africans watch Safaricom closely.

Safaricom is not just Kenya's biggest telco. M-Pesa is Africa's most successful mobile money story, and a test case for the whole continent.

When M-Pesa grows, it shows how millions of people without traditional bank accounts save, borrow, pay and run businesses on their phones. It shows how a telco can become a fintech giant. And it shows what is possible for other African markets, including Ethiopia, where Safaricom is now expanding.

That is why its half-year results are watched in Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg and across African tech and business circles — not just as a company result, but as a signal for Africa's digital economy.