The Kenyan government plans to sell more of its stake in telecom operator Safaricom.

As reported by Business Daily earlier this week, Finance Minister John Mbadi is keen to sell some of the government's 35 percent stake.

In total, the government wants to raise 149 billion shillings ($1.16bn) in the 2025/26 financial year through sales of stakes it has ownership in, which includes Safaricom.

Other shareholders in Safaricom include Vodacom, which owns 35 percent, and Vodafone, with five percent, while the remaining 25 percent is free float.

The government's total stake is estimated to be worth $2.2 billion. A sale is expected to attract global private equity firms.

Safaricom is Kenya's biggest mobile network operator with close to 50 million mobile subscribers.

Founded in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya, the company then sold a 40 percent stake to UK telco Vodafone three years later.

In 2017, Vodafone transferred 35 percent of its stake to South Africa-based Vodacom.

Safaricom also has an Ethiopian unit, which it launched nearly three years ago as Ethiopia's government pushed for more privatization of its telecom networks.