Safaricom has introduced updates to its airtime top-up, sim swap, tariff migration and activation of new lines services.
The updates are expected to increase the telco’s capacity for future innovations. In a tweet, Safaricom says that M-Pesa, calls, data and SMS will all be operational.
Customer Notice on Service Upgrade for Saturday 24th April 2021. pic.twitter.com/NCo9j9PUGQ
— Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) April 23, 2021
Safaricom Forced to Split Dividend Payouts by CBK
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has pressured Safaricom into dividing its dividend payouts in order to “shield the weakening shilling when the telecommunications firm seeks dollars for repatriation to foreign investors”, reports Business Daily.
Kenya’s local currency has faced immense pressure in recent months following the collapse of the tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to people familiar with the matter, the CBK’s push is one of the “key factors for the firm to break its tradition of making a single dividend payment in August or September” – this comes after the telco announced its first-ever interim dividend of Sh0.45 in February.
“Safaricom has to buy dollars from the market then repatriate the dividends. The dollar demand associated with this dividend payout is usually high. So this year CBK forced Safaricom to split the dividend to save the shilling from weakening,” says a banker who wished to remain anonymous.
“Safaricom’s growing dividend payout is now rattling the CBK. The CBK wants to avoid a repeat of last year’s pressure on the shilling when Safaricom went to the market for about $250 million to repatriate dividends.”
The telco is expected to reveal the final dividend once the results for the year ending March have been announced.
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