Airtel Kenya Gains Ground, Outpacing Safaricom in New Subscribers
Airtel Kenya is experiencing significant growth, recently surpassing 24 million subscribers. Notably, the telecommunications company is now acquiring new subscribers at a faster rate than Safaricom, the dominant market leader. This marks a considerable achievement for Airtel, which has historically operated as the second-largest player in the Kenyan market.
Subscriber Growth and Market Share
According to data released by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Airtel Kenya added 3.01 million new SIM subscribers in the first quarter of 2025. This figure nearly doubles Safaricom’s 1.7 million new subscribers for the same period. This represents a substantial 13.95% increase for Airtel. While Safaricom remains the market leader with a total of 48.2 million subscribers, its growth rate was a more modest 3.6%. The overall Kenyan mobile market is expanding, with total SIM subscriptions reaching 76.2 million, an increase from 71.4 million at the close of 2024.
Airtel’s recent success in acquiring new subscribers demonstrates its increasing competitiveness within the Kenyan telecommunications landscape. While Safaricom maintains its leading position, Airtel’s accelerated growth suggests a shift in the market dynamics and potentially greater competition for market share in the future.
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