Safaricom Gains Kenya Market Share for First Time Since 2017

(Bloomberg) -- Safaricom Plc, Kenya’s biggest company by market value, halted seven quarters of shedding market share by adding customers to reach 33.1 million users in June.

While its market share climbed to 63.5% in the second quarter, the first increase since September 2017, it was still lower than 65.4% a year earlier, according to the Communications Authority. Second-placed Airtel Kenya Ltd. held 24.6% of the market from 21.4% a year ago, even as it lost customers in the three months through June, ending a six-quarter winning streak.

Total mobile phone subscribers increased to 52.2 million in June, translating to a SIM card penetration level of 109.2%, from 45.6 million a year earlier, according to the regulator.

“It is estimated that at least 96% of the Kenyan population is covered by a mobile network,” according to the report. “The increased connectivity to mobile services has resulted in numerous economic benefits such as improved access to information, enhanced financial inclusion and ease of doing business.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Paul Richardson

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