Customers and staff at Safaricom store opening, celebrating with a festive balloon arch.
Kenya’s Court of Appeal has lifted a lower court order blocking the government’s planned sale of a 15% stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom. The court’s three-judge panel ruled that public interest favored lifting the stay, allowing the transaction to proceed. Kenya’s National Treasury, the defendant, had argued that delaying the deal threatened funding for infrastructure projects and broader fiscal planning, as proceeds are expected to support the National Infrastructure Fund and strengthen the country’s external liquidity. The sale would raise Vodacom’s stake in Safaricom to about 55% while cutting the government’s holding to 20%, generating an estimated $1.6 billion plus dividend payments. Opponents had challenged the sale, arguing that Safaricom, one of Kenya’s most valuable public assets, should not be transferred to a foreign company without adequate public participation.
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