Safaricom will take longer to break even in Ethiopia after depreciation of the Horn of Africa nation’s currency, birr, cut the telecoms operator’s net profit amid a thriving Kenyan business.
The telecoms operator posted a 17.7 percent decline in net profit for the six months to September to Sh28.1 billion as depreciation of birr inflated debt servicing costs for the Ethiopia unit, while also raising local-currency expenses such as leases.
