Safaricom CEO unfazed by reports of government-backed breakup

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Operators; 28 August 2025; 5105 views

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa is unfazed by media reports surrounding a potential breakup of the company in Kenya, which briefly surpassed the KES1 trillion market capitalisation milestone only two months ago.

It was reported last week that the Kenyan government is considering forcing Safaricom, the nation’s largest enterprise, into three separate units covering mobile services, infrastructure, and mobile money - with the latter potentially to be absorbed by the Central Bank of Kenya. Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi was quoted saying the government had identified “huge benefit” for the economy.

Speaking to Developing Telecoms, Ndegwa noted there have long been calls for Safaricom to be split into separate entities but stressed he was unconcerned. He argued Safaricom does not “abuse” its position despite being partly government-owned and said the operator is closely monitored by the Communications Authority of Kenya.

“Kenya is a democratic state and due to our constitution, by design we have a very open society. You’ll hear lots of noise from parliament about Safaricom being too big,” said Ndegwa.

The chief executive, who has been at the helm for five years, hailed the impact Safaricom has had on Kenyan society with innovative services such as mobile money platform M-Pesa, which has elevated the operator from a subsidiary of Telkom Kenya in 1997 to the incumbent market leader.

“So we just happen to be in the news. But when you speak to stakeholders and employees, there is immense pride in working for Safaricom. When you look at our community impact and everything we are doing, we believe we are on the right path - driven by a purpose to deliver real impact,” said Ndegwa.