Safaricom Ethiopia customer base grew by about 250,000 subscribers to 4.6 million in the quarter two (Q2) ending July as the telco rolls out an aggressive plan to grow user base.

Between January and March, the company subscribers stood at 4.35 million.

“As of end of June 2024, we had 4.6Mn three-month active customers on our network and one-month active customers closed at 3.4Mn customers,” Safaricom Ethiopia said in the latest result.

“Commercial momentum in the period was supported growth in customers since launch of operations in Tigray region. Overall Service Revenue ARPU as at end of Q1 FY25 was KES 155.3 (+87.9% YoY).”

Safaricom Ethiopia was launched in 2022 in the Horn of Africa country as the telco sought to grow customer base beyond Kenya.

The Ethiopian unit is owned by Safaricom PLC, Vodacom Group, Sumitomo Corporation, and British International Investment.

The group received a boost in 2023 when Safaricom Ethiopia was granted a mobile money license by the National Bank of Ethiopia, opening investment opportunities through M-Pesa.

Capital intensive investment in the Ethiopian unit ate into Safaricom’s profit, which fell by 18.71 percent to Sh42.7 billion in the full year ending March this year.