Nairobi — A study of Kenya’s telecommunications industry proposes breaking up Safaricom, the country’s biggest company, according to brokerage AIB Capital. The report, compiled by Analysys Mason, proposes "a raft of measures supposed to level the telecommunications playing field and tame Safaricom", AIB chairman Linus Gitahi said in an opinion piece published on Wednesday in the Nairobi-based Daily Nation newspaper. The measures include splitting the company’s mobile-money business M-Pesa from the rest of Safaricom, he said. Last week, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore criticised proposals by a Kenyan lawmaker to split the company as "plain stupid". The company, which is 40% owned by Vodafone based in Newbury, England, declined to comment on Wednesday. Safaricom is Kenya’s biggest mobile provider with a 69% market share as at the end of September, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya. Its closest competitor is the national unit of Bharti Airtel, with 17.5%. The company’s M-P...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.