Risky talk; where do we come off thinking Safaricom is indomitable. MTN is larger in Africa than the whole of Vodacom (including Safaricom).

MTN Uganda is larger than Vodacom Tanzania and growing faster (losely comparable markets). And MTN Uganda CEO was in charge of Safaricom's consumer business for ages.

I'm waiting to see whether Safaricom beats Ethiotel in their home market

Subscriber base yes MTN is bigger than Vodacom in Africa.
Profits and revenue Vodacom beats them.
With the consolidation of Vodafone Egypt into the Vodacom family the gap will widen.

MTN is now on a selling spree of some of its operational countries subsidiaries in Africa.

A gift that keeps giving

Mobile subscribers increased by 13.9% to 19.0 million.
Active data subscribers grew by 23.0% to 7.5 million.
Active fintech users increased by 9.7% to 11.6 million.
Service revenue grew by 15.2% to Ush 1,921.3 billion.
Data revenue grew by 22.0% to Ush 450.3 billion.
Fintech revenue grew by 18.1% to Ush 555.6 billion.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 15.6% to Ush 985.4 billion.
EBITDA margin stable at 50.6%.
Capital expenditure, excluding right of use assets, increased by 4.7% to Ush 289.6 billion.
Profit after tax (PAT) increased by 21.1% to Ush 354.4 billion.
Second interim dividend declared for FY 2023 is Ush 6.0 per share (Ush 134.3billion).

Safaricom will have to climb a mountain to dislodge either of the top 2 players. The ROI may not be worth it.

Being #3 may not yield a decent ROI.