Telco calls for fresh dominance study

Safaricom interim CEO Michael Joseph (left) and Board chair Nicholas Nganga during the firm’s AGM held at Bomas of Kenya yesterday. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Safaricom wants a fresh study on dominance in the country’s telecommunications industry.

“We do not expect that the study will cure the issues that existed two or three years ago because that information is not current and therefore not effective,” said the company’s chief corporate affairs officer, Stephen Chege.

Mr Chege said significant changes have taken place in the country’s telecoms market in the past few years that call for a review of the information collected in the study conducted by UK consultants, Analysys Mason.

“The right thing to do would be to start a new process again because we have had changes in the market, such as the proposed merger,” he said.

This comes even as the operator’s rivals call on the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) to implement the studythat was conducted in 2016 but has never been officially released.

Telkom Kenya Managing Director Mugo Kibati earlier this week reiterated calls to have the government and sector regulators intervene in the telecoms market to create a level playing field for all operators.

Safaricom board chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a said the company will continue to resist any attempt to hive off M-Pesa from Safaricom, as had been proposed in the report by Analysys Mason.

Dividend

“M-Pesa is an integral part of the company, the platform has several other functions and supports several of our services and the board agrees it should remain as part of the company,” Ng’ang’a said. “We maintain the same position in the discussions that have been going on over the issue of dominance, even though we feel the narrative came from elsewhere and was being pushed by other forces.”

Mr Ng’ang’a was speaking yesterday at a media briefing on the sidelines of the company’s 11th AGM where shareholders approved a special dividend of Sh0.62 per share, amounting to Sh24.84 billion and a final ordinary dividend of Sh1.25 per share that totals to Sh50.08 billion.

This brings the total dividend payout to at Sh1.87 and marks one of the highest payouts the company has made to shareholders in recent years.

“I am proud that the company has consistently paid out an increased dividend to shareholders since going public in 2008 and we have now paid out more than the Sh5 that the investors spent buying the shares,” said Safaricom interim CEO Michael Joseph.

Mr Joseph said he will serve as interim CEO of Safaricom for as long as required while the board continues the process of recruiting a new CEO.