Safaricom Ethiopia moves closer to break-even

New numbers show Safaricom's business in Ethiopia is almost making enough money to cover its costs. At the same time, the whole Safaricom Group profit is rising.

What break-even means in plain words

Break-even is a simple business term. Imagine you spend 100 to run a shop and you make 100 from sales. You did not lose money, you did not gain money. You are at break-even. You covered your cost.

Safaricom Ethiopia is not yet fully there, but it is close.

According to People Daily on Nov 5, 2026 in "Safaricom profits jump 36% to Ksh58.2B as Ethiopia unit nears break-even" and KBC Digital on Nov 6, 2026 in "Safaricom Group net income rises 36% to KSh58.2 billion as Ethiopia operations near break-even":

For the 6 months ended September 30, 2026, Safaricom Group net income rose 35.9% to Ksh58.2 billion. Group service revenue rose 13.1% to Ksh226.1 billion.

In Ethiopia, service revenue jumped 71.6% to Ksh10.6 billion. The three-month active customers grew 38.4% to 15.4 million. Most important, its EBITDA loss - that is loss before paying interest, tax and other charges - narrowed by 96.5% to only Ksh434.4 million, from over Ksh12 billion last year.

Group CEO Peter Ndegwa said: _"Ethiopia's sustained growth and commercial momentum brings us closer to our target of achieving EBITDA break-even by the end of this financial year"_ which ends March 2027.

In simple terms, the Ethiopia business lost almost no money at operating level this half, after losing big money for 3 years.

Why Ethiopia matters to Safaricom

Kenya is Safaricom's home and it is already number one with M-Pesa and data. Growth in Kenya is steady but slow. Ethiopia is different.

Ethiopia has about 120 million people, second largest in Africa. It only opened its telecom market to foreign companies in 2022 when Safaricom won a license. Before, only state-owned Ethio Telecom existed.

So for Safaricom, Ethiopia is its second growth engine. It has spent over $2.84 billion so far building masts, shops and M-Pesa in Ethiopia. If it works, it can double Safaricom's future. That is why Safaricom calls it Vision 2030 - to be Africa's leading tech company.

Ethiopia contributed 17% of the group's service revenue growth this half.

What investors and users may read into it

For investors: If Ethiopia stops losing money, group profit will rise faster. The board did not pay interim dividend, but CFO said dividend policy stays 80% of profit. A break-even Ethiopia means more cash for dividend in 2027.

For users in Ethiopia: More active users means better network, cheaper data bundles, and M-Pesa getting stronger. Data already brings 74% of Ethiopia revenue.

For users in Kenya: It means Safaricom can keep investing in Kenya M-Pesa and 5G because the heavy Ethiopia spending is ending.