There was a lot to celebrate at Safaricom last Friday when it released its results for the previous financial year.

Three key achievements stood out for Peter Ndegwa, the company’s Chief Executive Officer: achieving $3 billion in turnover for the first time, broad-based growth across all sectors of the business, and continued progress in Ethiopia.

M-PESA customers increased by seven per cent, connectivity customers by seven per cent, fixed broadband by 20 per cent, and there was great progress in Ethiopia, which now has close to 10 million customers.

There was an interesting number hidden in the customer numbers for Kenya.

“The other element is that as we get more involved with the public sector work, we are starting to see cohorts of customers that were previously ignored. On the Inua Jamii programme, for example, we have seen half a million customers coming to register afresh,” said Dr Ndegwa.

These, he said, are people who either did not have mobile phones or were using their kins’ phones. They are part of about 1.8 million customers who are now receiving monthly stipends via M-PESA.

In Ethiopia, where about $1.2 billion has been spent over the past three years – half of which has come from Safaricom Kenya – the business is now past the period of peak investment.

With about 50 per cent of Africa’s second biggest country by population now covered by 4G, focus will now be on recruiting more customers, with the target being to have 17 million on board by the end of the current financial year.

Watch the video to hear more from Peter.