Peter Ndegwa Speaks on Govt Plan to Split Safaricom into Three Separate Firms

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ndegwa has broken his silence about a potential plan by the government to split the telecommunications company into three separate firms.

This comes after National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said last month that the government, which holds a 35% stake in Safaricom, is considering carving up the company into a telecommunications firm, a mobile-money service (M-Pesa), and a tower operator, or offloading some of its shares, as it seeks to boost revenue.

Ndegwa, however, told Bloomberg that the government has not discussed a plan to split the operator into three separate entities.

Peter Ndegwa speaks

The CEO told Bloomberg, while the possibility remains, “from a management and board perspective, I always said the reason why Safaricom has been successful is because the two are joined”.

“There has always been talk about whether Safaricom should be split from M-Pesa or M-Pesa should be split from Safaricom,” he said. “From a management perspective and from a board perspective, I always said the reason why Safaricom has been successful is because the two are joined.”

Also Read: Unpacking Safaricom’s Upgraded M-PESA System and What It Means to Users

M-Pesa accounts for over 40 per cent of Safaricom’s total revenue. Between April 2024 and March 2025, the platform processed transactions worth more than Ksh35.9 trillion, according to Safaricom, with over 30 million active users and upwards of 600,000 merchants accepting payments.

Ndegwa noted that although there hasn’t been an official separation, M-Pesa operates independently from Safaricom’s telecommunications division and is regarded by investors as a distinct business unit.

The government has pushed for a formal separation due to concerns over M-Pesa’s dominant position in the mobile money sector and its significant influence on the national economy, especially in money transfers. It aims to bring the financial services under the regulatory oversight of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

“The government made a very generous statement about how it wants to finance its fiscal budget and part of that included either scaling back or selling some of their assets. We are not involved in that,” the Safaricom CEO added. 

As of March 2025, M-Pesa held a commanding 90.8% share of Kenya’s mobile money customers, with Airtel Money trailing at 9.1%.

Govt mulls splitting Safaricom into 3 units

In August 2025, CS Mbadi told Bloomberg that a government-led review indicated that splitting M-Pesa from Safaricom could offer a “huge benefit” for the government.

Also Read: Kenyan Govt Mulls Splitting Safaricom into Three Units

He highlighted that this move could help reduce the government’s current 35% ownership in Safaricom by revaluing the company after the separation and potentially listing the new, distinct entities as part of broader efforts to divest state-owned assets and increase revenue.

“We are discussing whether to offload more shares as an entity or split them and then get the fresh valuation and then get to that direction.” CS Mbadi said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The CS further said that the government has not reached a final arrangement to break up the operator and subsequently reduce its stake, and that such a move would require approval from the Cabinet.

Safaricom is jointly owned by the government of Kenya and Vodacom, each holding a 35% stake, while Vodafone holds a 5% stake. The remaining 25% is held by retail and institutional investors as free float on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

In April 2020, Safaricom and Vodacom completed the acquisition of the M-Pesa brand, product development, and support services from Vodafone through a newly created joint venture, aiming to accelerate M-Pesa’s growth across Africa.

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