NAIROBI – As telecommunications giant Safaricom PLC commemorates its 25th anniversary, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has attributed Kenya’s digital and economic transformation to foundational policy reforms enacted in the 1990s. Speaking on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, Mudavadi asserted that the deliberate shift away from state-controlled industries towards a liberalised, free-market economy created the fertile ground for the nation's subsequent technological boom.

“Kenya has made remarkable strides in communication, trade and industry in the last two and a half decades,” Mudavadi stated, reflecting on his tenure as Minister for Finance. “We dared to dream of a connected Kenya... when we laid the foundations for a digital revolution.” He detailed the critical decisions to remove price and exchange controls and to dismantle the state monopoly in telecommunications, policies he argued were pivotal in attracting private sector investment and innovation.

Safaricom’s Economic Juggernaut

Founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Telkom Kenya and later partnering with Vodafone in 2000, Safaricom has evolved from a nascent mobile operator into a cornerstone of the East African economy. The company’s trajectory was irrevocably altered with the launch of M-Pesa in March 2007, a mobile money service that has since revolutionised financial inclusion globally.

The scale of Safaricom's economic impact is substantial. According to its 2025 Sustainable Business Report released on October 7, 2025, the company contributed KES 809 billion to Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the preceding fiscal year. The report also calculated the company's total societal impact, or "True Value," at KES 1.1 trillion, a figure 16 times its financial profit. Furthermore, the company's ecosystem sustains over 1.2 million jobs annually through its network of employees, agents, and merchants.

A Nation Digitally Transformed

The policy groundwork described by Mudavadi has culminated in one of Africa's most vibrant digital landscapes. Recent data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) paints a picture of deep digital penetration. As of the third quarter of the 2024-2025 financial year (January-March 2025), Kenya's active mobile subscriptions reached 76.16 million, pushing the mobile penetration rate to 145.3%. Other reports from the CA in 2025 have placed the penetration rate between 137% and 143%.

This connectivity is the backbone of a thriving digital economy. The CA reported 45.36 million mobile money subscriptions by March 2025, serviced by over 416,000 agents nationwide. Data from the Central Bank of Kenya for September 2025 shows 87.01 million registered mobile money accounts, processing transactions worth KES 684.82 billion in that month alone. The expansion of 4G and 5G networks, now reaching 97.3% and 30% of the population respectively as of June 2025, continues to fuel this growth.

The Challenge of Dominance

Safaricom's success, however, has also fueled a long-standing debate over its market dominance. While its subscriber market share has seen a slight decline, it stood at 63.3% in the first quarter of 2025, far surpassing its closest competitor, Airtel, which held 32.2%. Critics and competitors have frequently raised concerns that Safaricom's scale, particularly the ubiquity of the M-Pesa platform, creates an unlevel playing field and stifles competition.

Regulators have acknowledged these concerns over the years. The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has previously investigated claims of dominance, stating that while market dominance itself is not illegal, its abuse is. The debate revolves around ensuring fair competition and consumer choice without punishing a company for its innovation and commercial success, a challenge that remains central to the sector's future regulation.

Looking Forward

As Safaricom celebrates its silver jubilee with customer reward campaigns, its focus is increasingly regional. The company's expansion into Ethiopia in 2022 has already garnered over 10 million customers, demonstrating its ambition to replicate its Kenyan success. This growth aligns with the Kenyan government's own ambitions, outlined in its National Digital Master Plan 2022-2032, which aims to further entrench the nation's status as the "Silicon Savannah."

Mudavadi’s reflections serve as a reminder that the digital landscape Kenyans navigate today—from M-Pesa transactions to high-speed data—is built on decades of deliberate policy choices. The interplay between government foresight, corporate innovation, and regulatory oversight will continue to shape the next 25 years of this transformation.