Safaricom Plc shareholders are set to approve the payment of a final dividend of KSh 0.62 per share or a total of KSh 24.84 billion at the firm’s 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on Friday, July 28th, 2023.
This payout is expected to be payable by 31st August 2023 to shareholders on the register of members as of the close of business on 28th July 2023. Payments below KSh 150,000 will be paid through M-PESA.
Shareholders are also expected to ratify the re-election of the company’s two directors- Ms. Winnie Ouko and Ms. Ory Okolloh. The two directors had retired according to articles of the company but offered themselves for re-election. The AGM will also approve the re-election of Ms. Rose Ogego, Ms. Winnie Ouko, Ms. Raisibe Morathi, and Ms. Ory Okolloh to sit on the Safaricom plc Board’s audit committee.
Other items to be transacted at this AGM are fixing the remuneration of directors and approving the reappointment of Ernes &Young as auditors of the firm.
Safaricom shareholders’ special business items
On special business, shareholders are also expected to approve the formation of an M-PESA Mobile Financial Services outfit, to provide mobile financial services in Ethiopia as a subsidiary of Safaricom Ethiopia Telecommunications- a subsidiary of the Kenyan-based Safaricom Plc.
The Kenyan-based consortium in Ethiopia led by Vodacom Group Limited (Vodacom SA), Vodacom Plc(UK), British International Investments, and Sumitomo Corporation, has already paid $ 150 Million to the National Bank of Ethiopia, to deliver mobile financial services in Ethiopia.
The Kenyan mobile operator will indirectly control more than 50% stake in Safaricom M-PESA ET. The license held by the Safaricom consortium permitted it to provide telecommunication services within Ethiopia but this did not include mobile financial services provision.
Shareholders at this month’s AGM will also give their nod to the acquisition of the entire share capital of M-PESA Holding Company Limited from Vodafone International Holdings BV.
Investing in Growth-Stage Startups
Safaricom shareholders will also okay a proposal by the mobile operator to set up a private limited company that seeks to invest in growth-stage startups and initiatives that meet the mobile firm’s strategic mission for financial gain.
ALSO READ: Safaricom’s M-Pesa License Approval in Ethiopia Paves Way for Financial Inclusion and Innovation
