There is an Africa that does not wait for rescue from above, but buys its own future gigabit by gigabit. And then there is Kenya, which for thirty years has been playing its own game amid improvised antennas, more or less aware visionaries and a few figures that make even multinationals with pedigree turn their heads.

In the midst of all this is Safaricom: the prodigy born as an offshoot of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, which grew up with the skinned knees of young African capitalism and, in just a few years, became the big brother of half the continent.

Now that child – which has become the green giant M-Pesa – is moving house again. Or rather, it is changing majority owners.

The £2.1 billion move that redraws the Nairobi-Johannesburg axis

Vodacom Group, the pan-African telecommunications giant, has announced its intention to increase its stake in Safaricom from 35% to 55%.

This is a move that is not seen every day, especially when the following are on the table:

• 15% purchased directly from the Kenyan government
• 5% acquired from Vodafone
• Price: 34 shillings per share, for a total value of $2.1 billion

If the authorities in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa give the green light, Safaricom will remain listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange but will have a new controlling shareholder: Vodacom itself.

For Shameel Joosub, CEO of the group, this is a “landmark” step, as it will allow Safaricom to be consolidated into Vodacom's financial statements, boosting revenues to 220 billion rand and, in his words, “accelerating growth and digital inclusion in Kenya and Ethiopia”.

On the other hand, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa applauds: ‘Vodacom has been with us from the beginning, and their investment demonstrates confidence in our people and our strategy.’

But how did Safaricom really come about?

Let's get rid of the clichés: Safaricom was not born a champion, quite the contrary.

• The 1990s: it was a somewhat forgotten department of KP&TC, the old state-owned structure that managed everything: landlines, post, telephones that rang when they wanted them to.
• 1997: it became an independent company, and the following year Vodafone arrived with an investment that many, at the time, considered reckless.
• 2000: Safaricom Limited was officially born. Something was set in motion.
• 2007: came that stroke of genius that would change Kenya and then half the continent: M-Pesa, the simple and revolutionary idea of turning every phone into a pocket bank.

The rest is history: while the banks debated and the elites doubted, Kenyans sent money by bus, then by matatu, then by mobile phone.

And from there, Safaricom became what everyone knows today: a champion of profits, margins, innovation and, above all, public trust.

Who owns Safaricom today?

With the proposed transaction, the shareholder structure will be as follows:

• Vodacom Group: 55% (up from 35%)
• Kenyan government: 20% (share retained, with representation on the board)
• Other investors, funds and shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange: 25%

Vodafone will continue to have influence through Vodacom, but technically it is selling part of its direct stake.

Why all this interest?

Because Safaricom is not just a telephone operator.

It is an ecosystem:

• telecommunications
• fintech
• cloud
• IoT
• enterprise services
• expansion into Ethiopia, a market of over 120 million people

And then, above all, M-Pesa, the digital goose that lays golden eggs, which is attractive to any global investor.

And what does Kenya gain from this?

The government talks about a strategic choice: selling part of the stake “without raising taxes or indebting the country”, as Treasury Minister John Mbadi said.

Translated: use the proceeds to finance infrastructure and growth, while leaving the state with 20% of one of its most valuable assets.

Meanwhile, between Nairobi and Addis Ababa...

The race towards digitalisation continues.

Safaricom aims to expand into Ethiopia, where the game has just begun and may hold some surprises.

Vodacom, for its part, wants to become the director of an African tech revolution, of which Kenya remains the most brilliant laboratory.

And we, from our benches in Malindi or the dusty streets of Eastleigh, can watch this game of giants thinking that it all started with an idea: a telephone that, instead of ringing, could transfer money.

In other words, technology comes and goes, but good ideas remain. Even when they were born in a government office with the lights flickering every few minutes.