The rising powerhouse is helping make up for Europe’s slowdown after Chief Executive Officer Vittorio Colao last year had to write down $9.5 billion on the value of Vodafone’s Spanish and Italian units.

Vodafone’s biggest African business, Johannesburg-based Vodacom Group Ltd. (VOD), surpassed the company’s U.K. unit in 2010 by profit, and it outpaced the Spanish division the following year. With earnings expanding at 50 percent annually in some countries, profit from Africa could overtake that from all of southern Europe in as little as three years, said Nick Read, the executive who heads the region.

M-Pesa, Vodafone’s mobile payment system, is used by 15 million people in Kenya and moves the equivalent of 31 percent of the country’s gross domestic product through its system, according to Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore.

M-Pesa is in eight countries and has begun offering savings accounts and other banking services in some markets. The system is more successful than traditional banks because it gives people an efficient way of sending small sums and doesn’t require a bank account, Collymore said.

Just received a confirmation that my trade went through @4.55. Im happy to have sold this laggard stock. Having averaged down heavily I leave wit a very small loss and no hard feelings..

@Mukiri, this patience was truly worth it. Am currently 473K net gain (at 5.90), and am just wondering, should i take that or wait for 500k (at 6.05)?

How is Wanjiku behaving, or she hardened already?

Noted' Morgan Stanley UK have been trading on Safaricom on a daily basis. HSBC also traded today