Safaricom Group Cuts Capital Expenditure to Ksh 36.3 Billion

Safaricom Group reduced its total capital expenditure to Ksh 36.3 billion for the first half of the 2027 financial year, a decrease from the Ksh 43.7 billion spent during the same period the previous year. This reduction brought the group's capex intensity down to 17.3% of revenue, compared to 21.3% year-on-year.

The decline was primarily driven by a 47.4% drop in spending in Ethiopia, where outlays fell to Ksh 5.0 billion. This shift occurred as the company moved from initial greenfield infrastructure deployment toward commercial optimization and network utilization. In Ethiopia, direct network buildout remained the priority, accounting for 94.3% of the region's total allocation.

Spending in Kenya remained more stable, totaling Ksh 31.3 billion. Investments in the Kenyan market were balanced between network infrastructure and IT architecture, contrasting with the network-heavy focus in the Ethiopian market.