Towards the end of October, Airtel Africa announced that it had received an investment of $1.25 million from a total of six investors. The funders, including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel and SoftBank Group International, invested undisclosed amounts each through a primary equity issuance in the corporation at a post-money equity value of about USD 4.4 billion. The funds should offset Airtel Africa’s $5.5 billion debt as the carrier targets to grow its business in the continent.
Today, Airtel Africa has announced the appointment of its Board of Directors that includes members from the carrier and the previously mentioned investors. The newly constituted Board consists of the following members: Sunil Bharti Mittal, Raghunath Mandava, Akhil Gupta, Vishal Mahadevia, Alok Sama, Arthur Lang, Shravin Bharti Mittal and Richard Gubbins.
According to the carrier (that operates in 14 African states), the new representatives should help fill deficiency gaps thanks to their extensive expertise in telecoms and ICT, as well as financial markets and software development.
It is likely that placing people with world-class technology expertise on the new board will guarantee success. In other words, without this expertise, the board cannot play it key role, which is to intervene with substantive conversations about the carrier’s strategic decision its operating markets early enough to bolster its growth in a fiercely competitive space.
During the 2nd quarter ending September 30, 208, Airtel’s global revenues grew by 10.8 percent YoY lead by remarkable growth in Airtel Money and data services.
Locally, Airtel and other players have been involved in driving conversations regarding the competition clause that aims to see Safaricom declared a dominant player. The Communications Authority has not implemented sector findings that were reported by Analysys Mason. Should the CA declare dominance, Airtel says consumers will benefit from better pricing of products.
