Kenya gives Safaricom a 25-year lifeline amid Vodacom court drama

On Techpoint Digest, we discuss Kenya giving Safaricom a 25-year lifeline, Your NIN is now your tax ID in Nigeria, and Bolt wants 500 EVs on South African roads

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Kenya gives Safaricom a 25-year lifeline 

Your NIN is now your tax ID in Nigeria

Bolt wants 500 EVs on South African roads

Kenya gives Safaricom a 25-year lifeline amid Vodacom court drama

Safaricom

Safaricom has just done something most telecom companies spend decades trying to secure: it locked in regulatory certainty for the next 25 years. On May 18, 2026, Kenya’s biggest telecom operator announced that it had received a fresh 25-year operating licence from the Communications Authority under Kenya’s new Unified Licensing Framework. 

That replaces the temporary two-year permit Safaricom had been operating under while regulators and telecom operators argued over spectrum fees, service outage penalties, and how Kenya’s future telecom licensing system should work. The symbolism is hard to miss, too. Safaricom launched in 2000, and this new licence now effectively carries the company all the way to its 50th anniversary.

Behind the excitement is a much bigger story about rising telecom costs and regulation in Kenya. Safaricom’s licence expenses have already jumped sharply, and with the country moving toward a more competitive auction-style system for spectrum rights, future licences could become far more expensive. By securing a 25-year deal now, Safaricom has basically protected itself from years of regulatory uncertainty. That stability matters because the company is no longer just a telecom operator, with over 46 million users, M-Pesa, fibre expansion, data centres, and its Ethiopian growth plans. Safaricom is making huge long-term investments that depend heavily on predictable regulation and investor confidence.

What makes the timing even more politically sensitive is that this licence lands right in the middle of a bitter ownership fight over Safaricom itself. Kenya’s High Court has now refused to lift orders blocking the planned sale of a 15% government stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom Group. The ruli...