Airtel Africa

Airtel Africa plc is a British company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East, Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa is majority owned by the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa offers mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally. Airtel Nigeria is the most profitable unit of Airtel Africa, due to its cheap data plans in Nigeria. As of March 2019, Airtel had over 99 million subscribers in the continent. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.[4]

History

MTN Group merger negotiations

In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group

Countries of operations

Airtel Africa operates in the following countries:

products	Mobile Telephony Mobile phone Broadband Internet Services

services	Africa's leading provider of prepaid, postpaid mobile, & 4G services.

revenue	$4.955 billion (2025)‡R3R‡

operating income	$1.457 billion (2025)‡R3R‡

net income	$0.328 billion (2025)‡R3R‡

assets	$12.023 billion (2025)‡R3R‡

equity	$2.775 billion (2025)‡R3R‡

parent	Bharti Airtel (67.2%)

subsid	Airtel Chad Airtel Congo Airtel DRC Airtel Gabon Airtel Kenya Airtel Madagascar Airtel Malawi Airtel Niger Airtel Nigeria Airtel Rwanda Airtel Seychelles Airtel Tanzania Airtel Uganda Airtel Zambia

website	https://airtel.africa/

Former operations

Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone

Airtel began operating in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone after acquiring Zain's Africa operations in June 2010.[34] Airtel and French telecom company Orange S.A. signed an agreement in July 2015 for the sale of the former's operations in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Chad and Congo-Brazzaville to the latter. In January 2016, Airtel announced that it had entered an agreement to sell its operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone to Orange. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but analysts estimated it to be US$800–900 million. The agreement on the sale of operation in Chad and Congo-Brazzaville lapsed.[35][36] Orange assumed control of operations in Burkina Faso in June 2016 and Sierra Leone in July 2016.[37][38][39][40]

Ghana

Airtel began operating in Ghana after acquiring Zain's Africa operations in June 2010.[34] On 4 March 2017, Airtel and Millicom International Cellular (operating under the Tigo brand) agreed to merge their operations in Ghana (Airtel Ghana Ltd and Tigo Ghana Ltd) to create the country's second largest mobile operator, with the two companies holding an equal stake in the merged entity.[41][42] On 27 October 2020, Airtel announced that it planned to exit its business in Ghana, and that it had entered into "advanced stages of discussions" for sale of shares in AirtelTigo to the Government of Ghana.[43] AirtelTigo Ghana was sold in October 2020 to the Ghanaian government for $25 million.[44]

trade name	Airtel
former name	Airtel Africa Limited (20182019)‡R1R‡
type	Public
traded as	lse: AAF FTSE 100 Constituent
industry	Telecommunications
predecessor	Zain Africa B.V.
foundation	June 8, 2010
location	London, England‡R2R‡
area served	Africa

History

MTN Group merger negotiations

Zain Africa acquisition

Rebranding

Warid Uganda acquisition

Telecom Seychelles acquisition

Tigo Rwanda acquisition

IPO

Countries of operations

Former operations

Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone

Ghana

Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone

Ghana

One Network

Partial sale of Airtel Money

See also

References