Kenya’s active SIM subscriptions reach 68 million, CA says

GROWTH: Kenya’s active mobile (SIM) subscriptions increased by 132.1 per cent to 68 million, up from the 66.7 million recorded in December 2023. According to the latest third—quarter statistics by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) statistics for the Financial Year 2023/24, this surge the growth is because of the successful customer win-back campaigns during the reference period.

CA said Mobile money subscriptions also experienced substantial growth, reaching 38.7 million during the same period, though the penetration rate declined due to a review of the population denominator following the release of the 2024 Economic Survey. Notably, the removal of withdrawal codes for transactions between M-Pesa and Airtel Money contributed to this expansion.

“The growth in mobile money is attributed to the removal of withdrawal codes for transactions sent from M-Pesa to Airtel Money, which means that funds can now be transferred directly into the Airtel Money account (wallet),” the report states. During the review period, total mobile data subscriptions stood at 51.3 million. The quarterly survey indicates that 72.6 per cent of these subscriptions were on mobile broadband, reflecting the growing demand for data services. Safaricom dominates with 38.1 million total subscriptions, a vast majority being prepaid, while Airtel follows with 16 million total subscriptions, also primarily prepaid. Telkom Kenya Ltd, Finserve (Equitel), and Jamii Telecommunications have smaller shares, with 4.5 million, 1.5 million, and 0.5 million total subscriptions, respectively.

Consumer preference

According to the report, prepaid subscriptions overwhelmingly dominate the market at 98.1 per cent, while postpaid subscriptions account for only 1.9 per cent, indicating a strong consumer preference for prepaid mobile services, suggesting that the Kenyan mobile market is heavily oriented towards prepaid mobile services. Safaricom has the highest number of total subscriptions at 38,144,833, with a significant majority being prepaid (35,629,998) and a smaller portion postpaid (1,275,434).

Airtel follows with 16,023,965 total subscriptions, also primarily prepaid (15,730,913) and fewer postpaid (182,812), while Telkom Kenya Ltd, Finserve (Equitel), and Jamii Telecommunications have smaller shares of total subscriptions at 4,466,668, 1,997,000, and 545,000 respectively