During Safaricom ’s annual shareholders meeting, the shareholders of the Kenyan operator approved the establishment of two new subsidiaries. The first subsidiary is dedicated to investing in seed-stage companies, while the second one focuses on growth-stage startups. This decision marks a significant move towards supporting entrepreneurs and fostering innovation within the Kenyan tech community, as stated in an official statement.
The first new subsidiary involves the incorporation of a company limited by guarantee, specifically aimed at investing in seed-stage startups. This initiative builds upon the existing Spark Fund, which is an investment entity governed by a Board of Trustees under Safaricom. The primary goal of this new entity is to nurture and support seed-stage start-ups across Kenya. Additionally, the establishment of this entity is expected to streamline administrative processes and enhance governance. Among the companies already part of the Spark Fund portfolio are notable ventures such as Shupavu 291 by Eneza education, which focuses on mobile-web learning for primary and secondary school students; iProcure, which provides an agricultural supply chain platform in rural Africa; and Sendy, a tech company specializing in building fulfillment infrastructure for e-commerce and consumer brands.
The second new subsidiary will be a private limited liability company with the mandate to invest in mature and strategically aligned entities. These investments are intended to play a pivotal role in accelerating Safaricom’s mission of becoming a tech company by 2025. This entity will act as the primary investment vehicle for all strategic investments undertaken by Safaricom.
Peter Ndegwa, the CEO of Safaricom, emphasized that these new companies will expedite the business’ entry into new customer segments within the consumer, financial services, enterprises, and SME space. Moreover, they are expected to unlock new business models and create opportunities along the value chain.
During the annual shareholders meeting, the shareholders also gave their approval for a final dividend of KES 0.62 per ordinary share. The total dividend payout amounts to KES 24.84 billion. The dividend is scheduled to be paid on or around 31 August to shareholders who are registered as of 28 July.
Safaricom startups Safaricom startups
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard