Vodacom Revenue Rises 25.6% to R102.5bn as Safaricom Boosts Fintech Growth

Vodacom Group  reported a strong first half, with revenue rising 25.6% to R102.5 billion for the six months ended 30 September 2026, positively impacted by the consolidation of Safaricom . Service revenue increased 29.4% to R85.1 billion, or 13.3% on a pro forma basis, while EBITDA rose 40% to R42.7 billion, representing pro forma growth of 18%. The Group said it was tracking ahead of its medium-term EBITDA target and confirmed an early-teens outlook.

Financial services revenue increased 99% to R15.9 billion, with pro forma growth of 19.2%. Headline earnings per share rose 25.7% to 587 cents. The Board declared an interim dividend of 355 cents per share, up 7.6%, reflecting the Group’s revised payout policy.

Vodacom now serves 250 million customers, up 11.8%, including 108 million financial services customers.

“We continue to make good progress against our Vision 2030 strategy. The momentum we are seeing across customer growth, smartphone adoption, financial services and beyond mobile services reinforces our confidence in the significant opportunity ahead. Connecting people remains one of the most powerful catalysts for economic and social progress. Over the last twelve months we added 26 million customers, taking our customer base to a record 250 million and moving us closer to our Vision 2030 ambition of serving 275 million customers.”

– Shameel Joosub, Group CEO, Vodacom 

Safaricom expands the Group’s fintech ambitions

Financial services remained a major growth area, with revenue increasing 99% to R15.9 billion. On a pro forma basis, growth was 19.2%. Across Vodacom and Safaricom, transaction value reached US$575.5 billion, up 20.7%.

During this morning’s joint media roundtable, Akim Benamara, Founder of TechAfrica News, asked Shameel Joosub about the next stage of the Group’s financial services strategy, including cross-border payments, lending and investments.

Joosub said the focus would be on expanding beyond core services and extending successful products across more markets.

“We have 108 million FinTech customers that we’re processing $575 billion of transactions. So what we’ll do is to continue to grow beyond core services. So expanding lending, lending as an example, expanding investment and investment platforms across our markets. And then, of course, also growing our merchant platform as well, but also services to the merchants, merchant lending, invoice financing, and so on. So we’re expanding our product roadmap on the one side, but also making sure that each of the markets’ maturity level improves to be more similar to Kenya and Tanzania, which are the two lead markets in financial services. So it’s deepening our services, but also taking things like our insurance best practice from South Africa, where we’ve got a highly successful insurance business, and then rolling that out into more markets as well.”

– Shameel Joosub, Group CEO, Vodacom 

The strategy includes extending lending, investment, merchant and insurance services across the Group’s markets, drawing on experience in more mature operations such as Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

 

Growth across the Group

Vodacom recorded growth across several of its major markets. In Egypt, service revenue increased 36.3% in local currency and EBITDA rose 31.3%. Safaricom’s service revenue grew 13.1%, with EBITDA up 27.5%. Its Ethiopian operation continued to progress towards EBITDA break-even.

The International portfolio recorded 13.7% growth in normalised service revenue and 15.9% in EBITDA. In South Africa, revenue increased 2.1% to R45.8 billion, while the EBITDA margin reached 37.4%.

 

Smartphone adoption and AI

Connectivity and digital inclusion were also raised during the media roundtable. Benamara asked how AI and locally relevant content and services could help bring more people online, particularly given the role of affordability, access and Africa’s more than 2,000 languages.

Joosub linked the next phase of digital adoption to greater smartphone penetration and the transition away from older network technologies.

“The more we can drive smartphone penetration, the more you’re bringing people into the digital economy. And I think that’s where governments, including the South African government, have to be more front-footed in terms of the sunsetting of 2G and 3G. Because what’s happening at the moment, you’re still adding old devices onto the network. And you have to stop that so that you can take full advantage of the new technology. And from there, of course, the next phase, I think, is AI. AI will give the ability to transform more. We’ll create solutions for non-smartphones as well. But I think the big thing is to make sure that AI creates a lot of learning opportunities. It will change the way business is done.”

– Shameel Joosub, Group CEO, Vodacom 

Vodacom added 19 million smartphones to its network over the past year, bringing smartphone penetration to 69.8%. The Group invested R13.3 billion in its networks during the half-year, adding 3,388 4G sites and 4,328 5G sites over the last 12 months.

 

Looking towards 2030

Beyond traditional connectivity, services such as financial services, digital platforms and other technology-led offerings now account for 27.4% of Group service revenue. Vodacom has raised its 2030 ambition for these services from 30% to more than 32%.

With its expanded position in Safaricom, a growing financial services customer base and continued network investment, the Group is positioning itself for further growth across Africa’s digital economy.