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Telco has partnered with Google to offer affordable devices across the country as it delivers earnings ahead of guidance posting profit after tax of KES 71.7 billion.
NAIROBI, 29TH APRIL 2020: Safaricom has today announced plans to launch a Sh 20 a day 4G smartphone package aimed at empowering customers currently on 2G devices to upgrade and enjoy high-speed internet connectivity.
The package is in partnership with Google and is based on insights and learnings from the Maisha Ni Digital campaign that saw over 1 million customers acquiring 4G enabled devices. The new campaign seeks to empower an extra one million customers to upgrade to 4G enabled devices in this financial year.
The announcement was made as the company released financial results for the year ended 31st March 2020 which saw the profit and total comprehensive income for the year grow 19.5% YoY but normalized for the exceptional share of profit of joint venture, at 14.3% YoY to KES71.7 billion with service revenue growing to KES 251.2billion.
Speaking during the results announcement, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said, “smartphone device is critical in supporting the new realities brought about by COVID-19. This proposition aims to support Kenyans during and beyond this pandemic by enabling them access more opportunities, be it learning, working, or running businesses from the comfort of their homes,” said Ndegwa. More details on this will be released by the end of this quarter.
“Android’s goal has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone. Access to the opportunities the internet offers is critical for any nations’ economic growth and social inclusion. Majority of Kenyans and Africans at large access the internet via mobile broadband. In Kenya, approximately 60% of the mobile phone install base is still on 2G feature phones and 40% smartphones with key barriers to people coming online being device and data affordability. We believe that this collaboration with Safaricom will bring more Kenyans access and the means to partake in the opportunities that exist online,” Mariama Abdullahi, Director, Android and Platforms Partnerships for Africa C1 – Public
This year’s financial results were driven by growth in M-PESA revenue, which grew by 12.6% contributing 33.6% of the service revenue and mobile data which grew by 12.1% to KES 40.67billion.
