Kenya’s Telecom King Is Losing Its Grip As Customers Take To Rival

Safaricom, Kenya's long-dominant telecom giant, has been considered untouchable for years, holding an iron grip on the market as the default choice for calls, data, and mobile money. But a quiet rebellion, driven by cost complaints and a generation of users who never swore loyalty to the green brand, is finally reshaping the market.

The numbers from the Communications Authority of Kenya show that in the first quarter of 2025, Airtel Kenya added 3.01 million new SIM card subscribers, a 13.96% jump that pushed its customer base to 24.5 million for the first time. Rival Safaricom grew by just 1.7 million, a 3.6% increase. This pushed Airtel’s market share to a record 32.2% in March 2025, while Safaricom’s share slid to 63.3%, its lowest level in recent years.