Vodacom Group delivered a sharp rise in profit for the year ended 31 March 2026, as its expansion across Africa and growing fintech operations boosted earnings despite sluggish conditions in South Africa. The telecoms giant reported net profit of R26.7 billion, up 34% year on year, while revenue climbed 10.1% to R167.6 billion.
The performance highlights Vodacom’s increasing reliance on faster-growing African markets outside South Africa, particularly Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia, as competition and weak consumer spending continue to pressure growth in its home market. Service revenue rose 10.6% to R133.5 billion, while operating profit increased 23.2% to R44 billion. Headline earnings per share climbed 22.9% to 1,053 cents.
Egypt emerged as Vodacom’s standout performer, with service revenue from the market rising more than 30% to R36 billion. The business contributed almost 30% of group earnings before tax, underlining how central North Africa has become to Vodacom’s earnings mix. Egypt’s performance was driven by strong demand for mobile data, inflation-linked pricing adjustments and rising adoption of digital financial services.
Kenya also became a far more significant contributor after Vodacom moved to acquire an additional 20% stake in Safaricom, the East African telecoms operator partly owned by parent company Vodafone. The deal, announced in December 2025, allowed Vodacom to consolidate Safaricom’s results into its reporting structure, adding R55 billion in service revenue and contributing R4.6 billion to group operating profit.
The transaction marks one of the most important strategic shifts in Vodacom’s recent history, strengthening its exposure to East Africa’s high-growth telecoms and fintech markets. Safaricom dominates Kenya’s mobile money sector through M-Pesa and has expanded aggressively into Ethiopia, one of Africa’s largest untapped telecoms markets following the liberalisation of the sector.
Vodacom said Ethiopia showed encouraging momentum during the year, with customer numbers rising 54.2% to 13.6 million as the business narrowed losses while scaling operations. Safaricom entered Ethiopia in 2022 after securing one of the country’s first private telecom licences, breaking Ethio Telecom’s long-standing monopoly.
The group added 26 million new customers during the financial year, bringing its total customer base to 237.3 million. The increase exceeded internal forecasts and prompted Vodacom to raise its Vision 2030 target from 250 million to 275 million customers.
The rapid customer growth also reflects the continued expansion of mobile internet access across Africa, where smartphone penetration remains below global averages. Vodacom added 18.8 million smartphones during the year, lifting smartphone penetration across its markets to 68.6%. The company has increasingly focused on handset financing and affordability initiatives to accelerate adoption, particularly in lower-income markets.
Fintech continues to play a growing role in Vodacom’s strategy as traditional voice revenues mature. Across Africa, telecom operators are increasingly evolving into digital financial services providers, offering payments, insurance, lending and savings products to millions of previously unbanked consumers. Analysts estimate Africa’s mobile money market processes trillions of rand in transactions annually, with East Africa remaining the continent’s most advanced fintech ecosystem.
READ – Vodacom Boosted by Egypt and Mobile Money
While Vodacom’s international businesses delivered double-digit growth, South Africa remained comparatively subdued. Local service revenue rose just 2.1%, reflecting pressure on household spending, intense competition and slower economic growth. However, Vodacom said improving prepaid trends, resilient data demand and growth in non-mobile services helped support performance.
Capital expenditure rose 16.5% to R23.6 billion as the group continued investing in network infrastructure, spectrum deployment and fibre expansion. Vodacom said its proposed acquisition of South African fibre operator Maziv would significantly strengthen its position beyond mobile services by extending its fibre footprint to 3.6 million homes passed.
The company declared a dividend of 735 cents per share, up 18.5%, reflecting stronger cash generation and improved earnings momentum. Free cash flow also increased by more than 20%.
Vodacom’s results come as African telecom operators increasingly position themselves as infrastructure and digital services companies rather than traditional mobile networks. With rising demand for data, fintech services and broadband connectivity, operators are competing to capture growth in markets where millions of consumers remain underconnected.
For Vodacom, the latest results underline how diversification beyond South Africa has become central to sustaining earnings growth. Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia are now among the group’s most important strategic markets, reducing dependence on a slower-growing domestic business while positioning the company to benefit from Africa’s long-term digital expansion.