Safaricom Ethiopia, the country’s first private telecom operator, has announced that its digital financial service, M-PESA, is achieving remarkable results in a short period. In its financial report for the period ending March 2026, the company revealed that the number of M-PESA users in Ethiopia has more than doubled over the past year, reaching 5.2 million.
Although Safaricom Ethiopia has been in the market for only three and a half years, it managed to increase its 90-day active M-PESA users from 2.37 million to 5.2 million over the last 12 months. This growth demonstrates that Ethiopia’s digital payment ecosystem still possesses vast untapped potential and that customers have a high demand for alternative payment methods.
According to the report, the value of transactions processed through M-PESA reached 28.6 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately $221 million), while the volume of transactions hit 442.2 million. This indicates that the service is being used extensively beyond simple money transfers, becoming a staple for daily transactions, payments, and business activities.
Dilip Pal, Safaricom Group’s Chief Finance and Innovation Officer, stated, “Ethiopia demonstrated a stronger performance in the second half relative to the first half on all the key financial lines.” While the Ethiopian operation continues to record losses due to initial startup costs, the magnitude of those losses has decreased significantly.
Safaricom Ethiopia’s net loss declined by 41.2 percent to $164 million. This suggests the company is moving past the “start-up burn” phase and entering a “scale” phase that leads toward eventual profitability.
The success of Safaricom Ethiopia has not come without significant challenges. Macroeconomic changes in the country, particularly the foreign exchange rate adjustments and inflation, have had a notable impact on the company. Furthermore, competition remains stiff with the state-owned Ethio telecom, which boasts over 87 million customers and its own platform, “telebirr.”
Safaricom Group CEO Peter Ndegwa noted, “Safaricom Ethiopia is now starting to become a material part of our group with a 15 percent contribution to the group revenue growth.” The company has expanded its network coverage to reach over 50 percent of the Ethiopian population, constructing more than 3,000 active network sites.
The growth shown by M-PESA in Ethiopia has a profound impact on the country’s financial inclusion. By providing digital financial services in rural and underbanked areas, it is actively supporting Ethiopia’s digital economy strategy.
For the upcoming 2027 financial year, Safaricom predicts that losses in Ethiopia will narrow further as M-PESA penetrates the market even deeper. These results serve as a significant indicator for foreign investors, proving that the sector is promising following Ethiopia’s decision to open the market to private players.
In summary, the milestone of reaching 5.2 million M-PESA users is being viewed as a turning point for Safaricom Ethiopia, signaling a shift from market entry struggles toward stability and long-term profitability.
