AAF on London Stock Exchange

Airtel Africa

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Telecommunications company in Africa

Airtel Africa plc is a British company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, mainly in East, Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa is majority owned by the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel.2 From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Last updated Oct 16, 2026.

Overview

1998Founded1

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  • TickerAAF on London Stock Exchange1
  • Industrytelecommunications industry1
  • HeadquartersAmsterdam1
  • Websiteafrica.airtel.com

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Airtel Africa plc is a British company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, mainly 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.2

How it started

MTN Group merger negotiations

In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasised the tentative nature of the talks. The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up", as MTN had more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage. However, the talks fell apart as MTN Group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.

In May 2009, Airtel confirmed that it was again in talks with MTN and both companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009. Airtel said, "Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to announce that it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group". The exclusivity period was extended twice up to 30 September 2009. Talks eventually ended without agreement.

A solution was proposed where the new company would be listed on two stock exchanges, one in South Africa and one in India. However, dual listing of companies is not permitted by Indian law.

Zain Africa acquisition

In Jun 2010, Bharti struck a deal to buy Zain's mobile operations in 15 African countries for $8.97 billion, in India's second-biggest overseas acquisition after Tata Steel's US$13 billion buy of Corus in 2007. Bharti Airtel completed the acquisition of on 8 June 2010, making Airtel the world's fifth-largest wireless carrier by subscriber base. Airtel reported that its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 grew by 53% to $3.2 billion compared to the previous year. The newly acquired Africa division contributed $911 million to the total. However, net profits dropped by 41% from $470 million in 2009 to $291 million 2010 due to a $188 million increase in radio spectrum charges in India and an increase of $106 million in debt interest.

From Wikipedia’s article on Airtel Africa, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Timeline

  1. 1998Founded Founded1

Sources

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