I'm guessing your not interested with corruption side Safaricom, but your happy to sprinkled glitter on doggy company. Safaricom has made few people rich but hinder development of millions. They've swindled the value of their airtime, they've lost poor people money due to faulty system. There was time one computer couldn't see another computers and people lost little they had, and your saying acquiring new system is waste of time. Mpesa as it is, is to primitive, South African users rejected it and now Nigerians are saying the same.
GDP of what? Tanzania Uganda Rwanda combine? This why EAC doesn't give a monkey about Kenya any more. Do you even know GDP of your own country let alone GDP of other EAC countries?
So if you see western business opening shop in particular country you quickly assuming that country is capitalist. Go to India, China, Brazil or Mexico and look how they deliver their services in cities or villages, are they delivering due to market economy social values? No matter who comes to open their business, the socialist country will not let key area being taken away of state to make sure delivery is not determined by your deep pocket. Brazil China India and many others are still keeping this principle. So many countries Tanzania included are embracing both world by measuring one system doesn't overpower another. When you see MacDonald opening shop in Vietnam or China it doesn't mean they've abandon socialism. It will stay for many years to come including the governing Portugal, a bit of France, Sweden, Malta and many more.
I'm interested with doggy part of company like Safaricom, because for far too long companies like these have been used to scoop money out of African and feed other economies leave millions of people poor and nothing to be proud for. I really don't understand when I see someone clapping their hands along the way praising tax dodgers. Deliberately monopoly created by Safaricom has so much to do with the way it linked itself with people on high places.
You phoned Nigeria and they told you they've rejected it? And Mpesa has never been introduced in Nigeria.
Mobile money succeeding in one market does not mean it will succeed in another. Regulations are different and in some banking was already entrenched.
Safaricom's Mpesa transacted $81 billion in the last financial year. You can add up your meager GDPs to see if they can even match that.
India's largest telecom companies are Airtel, Vodaphone etc. None of which are owned by their government. I don't know which sector you are saying they have refused private investments.
If you're talking of road, rail and other huge infrastructure, common sense will tell you that even in capitalist countries, this is a government job.
Private companies can run the buses but the government builds the road.
Tanzania is still struggling to get out of ujamaa which China and others left decades ago.
You keep looking for Safaricom's 'dodgy part'. If you go looking for dirt you'll get it. This applies everywhere even in your house.
Fact remains that Safaricom is a behemoth that not even your 20 biggest companies combined can match in profit.
And its clear you have no understanding what a monopoly is.
Here's Google definition:
The exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.
Kenya Power is a monopoly because you can't get electricity elsewhere.
KBC was a monopoly in the 90s because the government couldn't give signals to anyone else.
etc.
With Safaricom, you have a choice of Airtel, Telkom and Faiba.
All of them offer voice, sms, data and mobile money services.
There is not a single service they can say Safaricom has exclusive control of, and which they have been denied.
They only have themselves to blame for allowing Safaricom to gain such a market share.