In the land of Kenyan business, accustomed to seeing major national economic operators reign supreme in the sub-region, the news did not go unnoticed: the first shareholders of Safaricom, giant telecom East African and national economic flagship, are now … Tanzanians.
The Tanzanian brothers Aunali and Sajjad Rajabali, who have been multiplying their positions on value for two years now, have become the main individual investors in the Kenyan telecom giant, after buying an additional 11 million shares in August for a value of 277. million shillings ($ 2.77 million).
It is the latest monthly regulatory filings of the Nairobi Securities Exchange that confirm this decisive rise in power of the Rajabali. The latter, before acquiring this new position last month, had also bought 10 million shares in April. With a total of 21.1 million shares, valued at 527 million shillings ($ 5.27 million), they become de facto the first shareholders of the telecom group, ahead of the powerful investors Ramaben Patel (19.4 million shares) and John Kibunga Kimani (12.1 million units valued), two major figures in the Kenyan business world.
This new accumulation of Safaricom securities by the Rajabali, seen as a sign of confidence in the prospects of the telecommunications company, comes in a context marked by a sharp decline in share price: at 25 shillings, the title Safaricom suffers from a haircut of almost a quarter since its April highs (32 shillings), on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Clearly, the Rajabali brothers took advantage of the (temporary?) Alienation of the title to strengthen their stake in the company, the first capitalization of the East African stock market ($ 11 billion valuation). It remains to be seen if this new financial bet will pay. In addition to Safaricom, Aunali and Sajjad Rajabali have also accumulated more than 1.8 billion shillings ($ 18 million) of shares in listed companies such as Equity, KenolKobil and I & M Holdings.
