M-PESA has crossed a new line. Safaricom says the mobile money service brought in Ksh100.1 billion in the six months to September 30, 2026. This is the first time the platform has passed Ksh100 billion in a half-year period.
The company released its half-year results on Thursday, November 5, and M-PESA revenue grew by 13.6 per cent compared to the same period last year. Few services in Kenya touch as many people every single day, so the figure shows just how deeply the platform has settled into how Kenyans send money, pay bills and run their businesses.
The rest of the company also did well. Group service revenue rose by 13.1 per cent to Ksh226.1 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 27.5 per cent to Ksh129.2 billion, while net income grew even faster, by 35.9 per cent, to Ksh58.2 billion.
Back home, Safaricom Kenya recorded service revenue of Ksh216 billion, which is 11.3 per cent more than last year. The company's earnings before interest and tax also went past Ksh100 billion for the first time in a six-month period, closing at Ksh101.8 billion.
Chairman Adil Khawaja said the numbers prove that Safaricom's business model is strong and its long-term strategy is working. He added that the growth is tied to the company's purpose of transforming lives, so the benefits should be felt by customers, shareholders and communities, and not only seen on the balance sheet.
Group CEO Peter Ndegwa also spoke about the results. He said the company remains focused on its Vision 2030 plan of becoming Africa's leading purpose-led technology company. According to him, the performance shows good execution across the different businesses. He singled out Ethiopia, saying its steady growth and commercial momentum are bringing Safaricom closer to its goal of reaching EBITDA break-even by the end of this financial year.
Even with the big revenue numbers, Safaricom pointed out that a large share of M-PESA activity did not cost customers anything. The company said 53 per cent of all M-PESA transactions were free, or zero-rated, so customers paid no charges on more than half of what they did on the platform.
The numbers look even better for merchants. About 81 per cent of transactions through Lipa na M-PESA and Pochi la Biashara were free. For ordinary consumer transactions, 63 per cent were also zero-rated.
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