Safaricom PLC Market value (USD) - $12.6B 3-year annualized total return - 13.11% 12-month sales (USD) - $2.5B Sales growth, 2019 - 5% Female board membership - 33%
Suspending fees for small mobile money transfers through its M-Pesa service as a pandemic-relief measure may have been a blessing in disguise for Safaricom Plc, Kenya’s No. 1 cellphone carrier and an innovator in virtual banking. The move turned more consumers on to the benefits of mobile finance and could result in significant gains for M-Pesa, which generates a third of the company’s operating profit. —John Davies