Safaricom Secures 25- Year Licence as Fees Rise by Ksh 1.7 Billion.

Safaricom PLC will operate in Kenya for 25 years more after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) granted the operator an extended operating licence, pushing the company’s licence fees up by Ksh 1.7 billion.

The telco incurred Ksh 16.38 billion in direct licence fee costs during the year ended March 2026 from Ksh 14.66 billion in the prior year as the CA granted it the operating licence under the Unified Licensing Framework-making the primary operating license reflect its spectrum usage right and all its other authorizations.

The 25-year term now supersedes the 2-year temporary license the Authority issued in late 2024, pending the finalization of a review of fees, spectrum allocation and service outage penalty charges.

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Safaricom’s Extended License and Investment Confidence

“This licence provides long-term certainty to the company and improves its ability to make investments with confidence”, said Safaricom chairman Adil Khawaja.

This 25-year approval marks a departure from past practice where the regulator used to grant 10-year licenses to telecommunications operators and the cost of the extension has not been disclosed by Safaricom.

In the prior cycle, Safaricom paid Ksh 1.63 billion for the 2-year operating license and an additional Ksh 6 million in other related charges.

Airtel Kenya paid Ksh 494.2 million plus Ksh 6 million for its extension which expires in January 2027.

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Safaricom’s 25-Year License and Future Investments

It has not yet been established if Airtel Kenya will get the same extended 25-year license terms as Safaricom.

Safaricom and Airtel Kenya both operated on a temporary two-year operating licence during this period, with the regulator saying the Unified Licensing Framework provides for the consolidation of multiple authorizations into a unified license, avoiding the redundancy of multiple regulatory oversight documents.

Analysts said the long-term license was a key regulatory uncertainty removed from Safaricom, given its increasing capital expenses on 5G rollouts and rural coverage.

The telco now has a fixed operating timeline to 2051 to plan its investments and the financing that goes with them.

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Safaricom PLC Office Headquarters in Nairobi
PHOTO/Safaricom