Safaricom Shares Dip Slightly Ahead of Planned Government Stake Sale

Safaricom closed trading on Monday at Ksh.19.85 per share on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), reflecting a marginal 0.25% decline from its previous closing price of Ksh.19.90.

The dip comes amid heightened investor attention following the government’s announcement that it plans to sell an unspecified portion of its 34.9% stake in the telecom giant.

The intended divestiture, expected to be completed before the close of the 2025/26 financial year, is part of a privatisation programme by the state aimed at raising Ksh.149 billion to help plug budget deficits and avoid further tax hikes.

If successful, the deal would mark Kenya’s largest state divestiture in nearly 20 years and a major shift in government policy after years of hesitance to relinquish its holding in Safaricom.

The move is anticipated to draw strong interest from Africa-focused institutional investors and private equity firms, attracted by the company’s robust cash flows and consistently high profit margins.

“There is talk that if we can offload more of our ownership in Safaricom, we could raise the Ksh.149 billion needed through privatisation in the 2025/26 financial year,” said Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi in an interview with Business Daily.

Despite the slight drop in share price, Safaricom has shown solid performance this year.

Also Read: Safaricom Investors Dividend Hits Ksh.22 Billion in March Payout

It opened 2025 at Ksh.17.05 per share and has since appreciated by 16.4%, ranking 22nd on the NSE in terms of year-to-date gains.

Over the past four weeks alone, the stock has risen 15%, making it the fourth-best performer on the exchange during that period.

Safaricom also remains the most actively traded stock on the NSE over the last three months (February 21 – May 26, 2025).

During this period, a total of 382 million shares changed hands across 10,739 deals, generating a turnover of Ksh.7.02 billion.

The average daily trading volume stood at 6.07 million shares, with a peak of 25.4 million shares traded on May 13 and a low of 346,000 shares on April 25.