This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
As the government grapples with a widening budget deficit and declining revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has received a timely boost from Safaricom and KCB Group. The two companies have paid out a total of Sh21.7 billion in dividend earnings to the National Treasury.
Of this amount, KCB Group disbursed Sh2.12 billion in dividend earnings for the year ending December 2019, making it the highest amount the lender has ever paid to its shareholders. This brings KCB's cumulative dividend payout to the government to Sh12.98 billion, up from Sh1.88 billion in 2018.
Speaking during the handover of the dividend cheque to Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, KCB Group Chairman Andrew Kairu noted that the bank has provided a good return on investment to its shareholders, including the government. Yatani described the payout as timely, given the subdued tax collections and rising expenditure demands due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Safaricom has paid out a total of Sh56 billion in dividend earnings for the financial year ending December last year, with the government set to receive around Sh24 billion. In the current financial year, the National Treasury expects to receive Sh29 billion in dividends from its investments.
