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- Dar es Salaam based billionaires Aunali and Sajjad Rajabali are now the top individual investors in Safaricom after they bought an additional 11 million units worth Sh277 million.
- The Dar duo have in the past two years been accumulating shares in Nairobi Securities Exchange listed firms, with their cumulative investment now standing at more than Sh1.8 billion.
Tanzanian billionaires duo have taken over Kenya’s most profitable firm and the country’s biggest mobile operator, Safaricom.
Dar es Salaam based billionaires Aunali and Sajjad Rajabali are now the top individual investors in Safaricom after they bought an additional 11 million units worth Sh277 million.
The August regulatory filings at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) show that the Rajabalis, who bought 10 million shares in April, now hold a total of 21.1 million shares valued at Sh527 million.
playAn early morning view across Dar es Salaam, from the city centre to Msasani Peninsula. (The National)
The purchase saw them shoot past has billionaire investors Ramaben Patel who holds with 19.4 million shares worth Sh485 million and John Kibunga Kimani who has 12.1 million units valued at Sh302 million.
The two have now been relegated to second and third positions respectively.
Coming in the wake of amid a major dip in the company’s share price, which now stands at Sh25, a 23.6 per cent drop from a high of Sh32.75 in April, the Rajabalis’ purchase is seen by many and interpreted as a signal of their confidence in the telco’s future prospects.
playSafaricom CEO Bob Collymore (Citizen TV)
It is not hard to see however, why they can’t have enough of Safaricom.
Latest data shows Safaricom has a market share of 71.9 per cent in mobile subscriptions with rival Airtel trailing behind in distant second with a paltry 14.9 per cent market share and recently revamped Telkom Kenya has 8.4 per cent.
Safaricom is Kenya’s most profitable company, with a dominance in the various segments of the telecommunications market, including voice, mobile data and mobile cash transfers.
Despite a tough economic year occasioned by prolonged electioneering period, Safaricom made a net profit of Sh55.2 billion in the year ended March, a 14.1 per cent rise from Sh48.4 billion the year before.
playEquity Bank. (the star)
During the 2018 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Safaricom received special recognition and was identified as being among the highest-engaged participants of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
The Dar duo have in the past two years been accumulating shares in Nairobi Securities Exchange listed firms, with their cumulative investment now standing at more than Sh1.8 billion.
Besides Safaricom, the duo have bought significant stakes in Equity Group, KenolKobil and I & M Holdings, among other listed firms.
Mid this year, the two bought seven million shares worth Sh344 million ($3.44 million) from Equity Bank.
As a result, the Rajabalis are now ranked seventh in Equity’s list of top individual investors with a 0.19 per cent stake.
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