Safaricom Ethiopia reported a remarkable 270 percent increase in revenue, rising from ETB 2.7 billion to ETB 7.2 billion, in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2025. The growth is credited to bold infrastructure investments, strategic service expansion, and the nation's growing demand for digital finance and mobile data services.
Over the course of the fiscal year, the telecom operator's 90-day active customer base more than doubled, reaching 8.8 million voice and internet users, a 103 percent increase over the previous year. 7.1 million of these are active internet users, and they use an average of 6.5GB of data per month, which represents a 53 percent increase in data consumption per user.
A major factor in this expansion was Safaricom's vigorous network rollout. In order to provide connectivity to previously unconnected areas, the company installed 3,141 towers and extended 4G coverage to 50 percent of Ethiopia.
M-PESA facilitates ETB 15.8 billion in transactions
Digital financial services did well as well. The mobile money platform M-PESA, which was introduced in Ethiopia, has facilitated transactions totalling ETB 15.8 billion and drawn 2.4 million 90-day active users. The platform's increasing importance in the nation's shift to a cashless economy is demonstrated by new offerings such as digital fuel payments, international remittance services, and airtime purchases through bank integration.
The company said, "These results reflect the resilience of our strategy amid Ethiopia's dynamic macroeconomic environment," adding that service reliability and community involvement were also important pillars of its growth strategy.
