Every time a Kenyan paid for groceries, borrowed a few thousand shillings on Fuliza or sent money home from abroad between April and September, M-Pesa edged closer to a milestone it has now crossed: Sh100 billion in revenue in just six months.

Safaricom on Thursday reported that M-Pesa revenue rose 13.6 per cent to Sh100.1 billion in the half-year to September 30, 2026, the first time the mobile money platform has passed the Sh100 billion mark in a half-year. Group net earnings rose 35.9 per cent to Sh58.2 billion, according to figures reported by Nairobi News, while Business Daily reported a group net profit figure of Sh50.3 billion on a different measure.

What drove the numbers

Service revenue across the group rose to Sh226.1 billion, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 27.5 per cent to Sh129.2 billion. Operating profit grew close to 40 per cent to Sh91.1 billion.

Inside M-Pesa, the growth came mainly from businesses and financial services rather than plain cash withdrawals:

  • Transactions rose 25.2 per cent to 27.4 billion, worth about Sh23.6 trillion.
  • Consumer payments brought in Sh40.8 billion and business payments Sh31 billion.
  • Financial services such as lending and savings jumped 55.3 per cent to Sh7.1 billion.
  • Global payments, including money sent from abroad, grew 26.6 per cent to Sh2.8 billion.
  • Withdrawal fees were the only major category to slip, edging down 0.5 per cent to Sh18.4 billion.

Mobile data also kept growing. Business Daily reported that data revenue rose 12.2 per cent to Sh45.2 billion, with the average customer now using 5.3GB a month, and the number of 4G devices on the network rising to 34.3 million. Fixed data, mainly home fibre, grew 25.5 per cent to Sh12.5 billion, with more than 907,600 homes connected.

Ethiopia bleeding less

The Ethiopian business, launched in 2022, remains loss-making but is improving fast. Service revenue there rose 71.6 per cent to about Sh10.6 billion, and Nairobi News reported that the net loss narrowed by 43.2 per cent to Sh8.8 billion, with the EBITDA loss shrinking to about Sh400 million.

"Growing revenues and a better network utilisation are moving us closer to break even in Ethiopia," chief executive Peter Ndegwa said, according to Business Daily. The firm expects the unit to break even by the end of March 2027.

In Kenya alone, net earnings rose 13.8 per cent to Sh66.3 billion on service revenue of Sh216 billion.

What it means for you

For shareholders, from pension funds to small retail investors, the results strengthen the case for steady dividends, and market reports say the company kept its full-year guidance. For ordinary users, the figures confirm how deeply M-Pesa has moved beyond sending money into credit, merchant payments and savings, which now drive much of its growth.

"These results reflect sustained growth in Kenya, lower startup costs in Ethiopia and disciplined strategy execution," Ndegwa said.

Photos: Business Daily/Nation Media Group (Lucy Wanjiru); Nairobi News. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.