Kenya's National Assembly has approved the sale of a 15% government stake in Safaricom to South Africa's Vodacom Group, paving the way for the National Treasury to receive KSh 244.5 billion ($1.89 billion) in total proceeds.
The House adopted the joint report of the Finance and Privatisation committees on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, through an acclamation vote.
The transaction will raise Vodacom's shareholding in Safaricom from 40% to 55%, giving the South African telecoms group majority control of the company for the first time.
In addition to the share sale proceeds, the government will receive an upfront payment of Ksh.40.2 billion ($311.5 million) from Vodacom in lieu of future dividends on its residual 20 per cent stake, bringing total gross inflows to an estimated Ksh.244 billion ($1.89 billion).
The sale is priced at Ksh.34 ($0.26) per share, a premium of 23.6 per cent above the six-month volume-weighted average price as of December 2025, when Safaricom shares were trading at around Ksh.29.50 ($0.23) on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
All proceeds are earmarked for the National Infrastructure Fund to finance roads, energy, and water projects.
To safeguard national interests, Parliament attached six binding conditions to the approval:
Market execution: the transaction must be executed through the NSE Block Trading Platform; job security: a ten-year prohibition on acquisition-related redundancies, local governance: Safaricom must retain a Kenyan chairperson and at least two government-appointed board seats and ecosystem protection: preserving the "shared prosperity" model for Safaricom’s 400 000+ agents and dealers.
The Central Bank of Kenya is still assessing Vodacom's fitness as a controlling shareholder, particularly concerning the ring-fencing of KSh 250 billion in M-Pesa customer funds, officials noted.
While the COMESA Competition Commission has approved the deal, the Competition Authority of Kenya is yet to issue its final formal clearance.
This transaction allows the state to unlock capital for development without increasing the national debt burden, says the Finance Committee report.
With public debt at KSh 12 trillion, the divestiture provides essential fiscal space for infrastructure investment.
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