The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) will not conduct a full review of Vodacom Group’s proposed acquisition of an additional 20 percent stake in Safaricom, leaving the transaction to be assessed by regional competition regulators-in a move that signals a shift in how large cross-border mergers involving Kenya are handled.
Vodacom has signed an agreement to buy a 15 percent stake from the government and another five percent from its parent firm Vodafone Group, aiming to raise its ownership in Safaricom from the current 35 percent to a controlling 55 percent. The total value of the deal is Sh272 billion.
Instead of requiring a formal merger notification, which would have triggered a detailed inquiry and attracted notification fees, CAK said the parties are only required to inform the authority of the transaction.
The deal is now under review by the East African Community Competition Authority (EACCA) and the Comesa Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC), both of which have been formally notified.
The approach departs from long-standing practice, where transactions involving Kenyan firms were first reviewed by CAK before being escalated to regional regulators in cases where the merging parties operated in more than one country.
Traditionally, in such instances, as was seen with the recent merger between Nigeria’s Access Bank and the National Bank of Kenya, each authority would independently conduct its own inquiry.
That system, however, has been revised following agreements among regional competition regulators and local regulators last year to eliminate double notification, a process that businesses have long complained increased compliance costs and prolonged deal timelines.
Under the revised framework, companies whose transactions meet specified regional thresholds are now required to notify only the relevant regional regulator, while national authorities are informed as a matter of record.
CAK Director-General David Kemei in response said the Safaricom transaction met the criteria for regional notification because the parties operate in multiple countries and have a combined annual turnover exceeding $50 million (Sh6.4 billion).
“In order to promote ease of doing business through the elimination of double notification, transactions that meet the prescribed thresholds are required to be notified to the CCCC in the prescribed form, with the parties additionally required to inform the authority in writing,” Mr Kemei said.
He explained that informing CAK, as opposed to formally notifying it, does not involve any fees, investigative processes or compliance obligations. Instead, it serves as an alert mechanism, allowing the authority to remain aware of significant transactions affecting the Kenyan market without acting as the approving body.
While CAK will not conduct a formal merger review, it will still assess the transaction’s potential effects on competition and consumer welfare within Kenya and submit its views to the regional regulators conducting the inquiry.
“The authority received confirmation from the merging parties that they had submitted their merger notification to the CCCC and the EACCA,” Mr Kemei said.
“We will engage the two regulators and provide our input regarding the potential impact of the transaction on competition and consumer welfare in Kenya, in accordance with the existing laws and procedures.”
The review by the EACCA is particularly significant, as it marks the first merger inquiry undertaken by the regional body since the EAC Competition Act of 2006 became operational in November 2025. The case is widely seen as an early test of the bloc’s long-dormant regional competition regime.
In a statement issued last week, the EACCA said the transaction was notifiable because the acquiring entity, South Africa’s Vodacom Group, has operations in at least three EAC member states –Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The authority shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Regulations, determine...whether or not the merger is likely to substantially lessen competition within the Community,” the EACCA said.
