Safaricom changes its name, issues a public notice

The leading telecommunication network in Kenya Safaricom on Wednesday, February 28 issued a public notice announcing that it has changed its name from Safaricom Limited to Safaricom Public Limited Company (PLC).

According to the notice, the company was granted the approval to change its name during the Annual General meeting that was held on 15th September 2017.

“This is to notify the general public that in compliance with section 53 of the Companies Act, 2015 and in line with the approval granted by the Company’s shareholders during the Annual General Meeting held on 15th September, 2017 and the Certificate of Change of Name issued by the Registrar of Companies, Safaricom Limited has changed its name to Safaricom PLC with effect from 31st January 2018,” read part of the notice.

The change has caught a lot of Safaricom users by surprise especially after losing their blue verification mark on their Twitter handle account.

A PLC is a company whose securities are traded on a stock exchange and can be bought and sold by any member of the public. This means that the company will offer shares to the general public and has limited liability.

A Private Limited Company however means that the business entity limits owner liability to their shares, limits the number of shareholders to 50, and restricts shareholders from publicly trading shares.