Vodacom — South Africa's largest mobile network — is majority-owned by Vodafone, the British telecoms group. Vodafone's stake in Vodacom rose to about 65% after Vodacom bought Vodafone's Egypt business in 2022 1, paid partly in new Vodacom shares. Vodacom is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange 2, but control sits in the UK.
That is the tell this desk keeps finding in African telecoms: a national champion with a big local shareholder base, controlled from abroad — the same shape as Safaricom, which Vodacom itself now controls, and above it Vodafone again. The SIM in most South African phones connects, ultimately, to a London balance sheet. See the full ledger.