The Vodacom Group has grown its customer base by 12,3% to 237,3-million customers during the financial year ended 31 March 2026. This includes 103-million financial services customers, including Safaricom.
The group delivered ahead of its EBITDA medium-term target, with a double-digit outlook confirmed. Revenue for the year was R167,7-billion, up 10,1% from the previous year. Financial services revenue increased 19,6% to R16,8-billion, contributing 12,6% to Group service revenue. Service revenue grew 10,6% in rands and increased 12,9% on a normalised basis.
EBITDA grew 12,8% to R62,6-billion, and 14,2% on a normalised basis. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) was up 22,9% to 1 053cps, and a final dividend of 405cps was up 20,9%.
Shameel Joosub, group CEO of Vodacom, comments: “We have delivered a strong start to our Vision 2030 strategy. This was a year that reflected both continuity and acceleration: staying true to the strengths that have served us well, while confidently stepping into the next phase of our growth journey.
“With headline earnings and free cash each growing by more than 20%, the benefits of our revenue and geographic diversification are apparent, even amid a complex and dynamic macroeconomic environment.
“Pleasingly, our strong commercial momentum has positioned us to upgrade our Vision 2030 customer aspirations and confirm our medium-term targets. Throughout FY2026 and our Vision 2030 strategy, our purpose – connecting people for a better future – remains a decisive driver of strategy and execution, shaping how we invest, scale and deliver sustainable impact across our markets.”
He points out that progress of the strategy delivery was marked by two milestone transactions: in December, Vodacom announced an agreement to acquire an additional 20% stake in Safaricom; the same month the acquisition of a strategic stake in Maziv was finalised.
During the financial year, Vodacom added 26-million customers across the group, more than double its annual Vision 2030 target of 10-million customers, taking the total customer base to 237,3-million across eight markets.
“This scale is driving greater connectivity, productivity and financial inclusion, and underpins our decision to increase our Vision 2030 customer ambition to 275-million, reflecting confidence that the growth opportunity remains far from fully realised,” Joosub says.
Financial services remains a core pillar of Vodacom’s growth strategy and a powerful engine for inclusion. “Financial services customers increased by 17,4% to 103-million, including Safaricom, supported by growth across payments, insurance, savings, lending and merchant services,” Joosub says.
“Reflecting the strength of this momentum and the scale of opportunity ahead we have upgraded our Vision 2030 ambition for financial services customers to 130-million, from 120-million previously. Meanwhile, our leadership in African Fintech remains evident by the scale of transaction value we process, which reached $525,6-billion in the year, up 16,6%.”
Beyond mobile services, which include financial services, fixed, digital and IoT, generated R29,8-billion, contributing 22,3% of group service revenue and demonstrating steady progress towards our ambition of approaching 30% by 2030.
“The two milestone transactions, Safaricom and Maziv, are expected to materially enhance the group’s beyond mobile positioning,” Joosub says. “The group’s fibre footprint will extend to 3,6-million homes passed, strengthening our connectivity leadership and long‑term growth potential, when the Safaricom transaction completes.”
He adds that investment in technology and the network remains central to supporting Vodacom’s growth, and it invested R23,6-billion in capital expenditure for FY2026.
“Across the group, including Safaricom, we rolled out 3 041 new 4G and 6 160 new 5G sites. These investments support rising data demand, enhance network and customer experience, and enable scalable digital inclusion,” Joosub says.
“We added 18,8-million smartphones during the year, lifting smartphone penetration across the group to 68,6%, supported by continued progress in handset affordability innovations. Across many of our markets, the challenge is increasingly one of device access rather than coverage, and we remain focused on addressing this responsibly.”