Growth during the period was supported by income from its mobile money transfer business, M-Pesa, which generated Ksh35.5B in revenue.
During the six month period, Safaricom generated Ksh122.B in revenue.
Safaricom Group chief executive officer Bob Collymore said data and M-Pesa continue to provide growth opportunities for the telecom operator despite challenges facing the industry.
Mobile data income grew 10.8 percent to Ksh19.8B.
“We are leveraging the power of mobile technology to develop, take to market and scale propositions in health, agriculture and education, impacting livelihoods positively,” Collymore said during an investor briefing on Friday.
The Kenyan government recently increased the tax rate to 15 percent from 10 percent as it seeks to boost revenue collection. This has seen mobile and data operators hike prices over the month.
Collymore said there needs to be more predictability on the taxation in the sector to support future investments.
“We hope that the government will reconsider its position on those taxes,” he said.
