- Business
- Airtel Africa Plc provides telecommunications and mobile money services across 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily in Nigeria, East Africa and Francophone Africa; it offers an integrated suite of mobile voice services including pre- and post-paid wireless voice, international roaming and fixed-line telephony; mobile data services encompassing 4G available in all markets, 5G in five markets, home broadband and data centres; Airtel Money mobile financial services featuring digital wallet payments, microloans, savings and international money transfers; and Airtel Business enterprise solutions including network-as-a-service and digital advertising via Airtel Ads. The company, majority owned by Bharti Airtel and founded in 2010, maintains its headquarters in London, United Kingdom, with key operational hubs in Nairobi, Kenya, and Lagos, Nigeria; it serves over 152 million customers, holding first- or second-largest market share in all operating countries such as Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel Africa recently secures a strategic partnership with SpaceX in May 2025 to integrate Starlink satellite internet into its enterprise and retail offerings; enters network sharing agreements with MTN Group in March 2025 for Uganda and Nigeria and with Vodacom in August 2025 to accelerate digital inclusion; raises full-year capital expenditure to $875-900 million in 2025 for 4G/5G expansion, data centres including East Africa's largest in Kenya and Nigeria's first Nxtra facility, and IT/cybersecurity upgrades; receives $200 million sustainability-linked financing from IFC in September 2024 to modernize networks and enhance rural connectivity for 37 million subscribers; and plans a mobile money IPO in the first half of 2026 while launching Nxtra by Airtel data centres and Telesonic fibre services in 2024.