Chamber of Commerce calls for cautious approval of Safaricom’s stake sale
By Joel Masibo, January 16, 2026The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) has urged the joint sitting of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and the Select Committee on Public Debt and Privatisation to cautiously consider Sessional Paper 3, 2025, which outlines the proposed divestiture in Safaricom PLC by the government of Kenya.
Call for caution
In a sitting held on Friday, January 16, 2026, while acknowledging that the Government of Kenya’s proposal to sell 15 per cent of its shareholding in Safaricom PLC to the Vodacom Group aims to alleviate the government’s fiscal pressures, the chamber urged caution, citing Safaricom’s role as a “systemic economic utility” rather than a standard telecommunications provider.
The transaction, which involves the sale of over 6 billion shares at Ksh34 per share, is expected to raise approximately Ksh204.3 billion. If the National Assembly endorses the sale, Government ownership is expected to drop from 35 per cent to 20 per cent, while Vodacom Group’s ownership would rise to 55 per cent, granting it an effective controlling interest.
During the session chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and National Planning, Francis Kuria Kimani, the Chamber highlighted the strategic risks associated with transferring control to an external entity.
“Hon. Members, Safaricom’s M-Pesa processes over Ksh25 trillion annually and supports over 1 million MSMEs. Any ownership change impacts business continuity, transaction costs, and national security”, the Chamber told the lawmakers.
Large blocks sale
They further cautioned that selling large blocks of offshore entities effectively exports future dividend flows out of Kenya, potentially weakening the balance of payments over the long term.
While noting that KNCCI does not strictly oppose the sale, they insisted that the Committee consider instituting a number of conditions to shield the domestic economy. Among the proposed conditions was that future tranches should prioritise Kenyan investors through the Nairobi Securities Exchange or domestic investment vehicles.
They also emphasised that the accrued proceeds be ring-fenced or be legally restricted to debt reduction and productive infrastructure, rather than recurrent expenditure.
Rooting for stringent regulatory safeguards, KNCCI stressed that strong oversight would be needed to prevent fee escalation for MSMEs, to protect data sovereignty, and to ensure continued innovation.