As they worked on the strategy that would guide Safaricom’s work from 2020 to 2025, the team thought there was little space for growth in the business of talking on the phone.

With 57 million mobile subscriptions and a penetration rate of 119 per cent, the number of phones in the market were higher than the population.

“People thought it was a mature business and we were not going to continue to grow voice,” Safaricom CEO Dr Peter Ndegwa recalled as he reflected on his first five years in charge.

At the results released last Friday, the voice business reported growth of 50 per cent over the last five years.

The growth is attributed to several factors, chief among them the segmentation of customers, using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to understand their needs and calling habits, and making special packages for them.

“So because we are now more sophisticated, instead of the one-size-fits-all, we have able to target all our customers based on their needs,” said Dr Ndegwa.

In the same period, the usage of mobile data grew three-fold, aided by the investment in infrastructure that resulted in the expansion of the 4G network to now cover 95 per cent of Kenya.

Again, AI and Machine Learning has helped to understand customers better, and adjust accordingly.

Watch the video to learn more about the factors behind the increase in calling and the use of mobile data.