India's Bharti Airtel doubles down on Africa and UK ventures
India's telecom giant Bharti Airtel is raising its stake in its African operations and in Britain's BT Group. The company points to the rapidly expanding sub-Saharan African subscriber base as the central rationale. The additional spend is expected to exceed $5 billion in total.
Airtel Africa, the subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has more than 165 million subscribers across 14 countries and aims to reach 200 million by 2028. Under the new plan, the parent will lift the number of base stations by roughly 25%, particularly in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania. The near-term investment tranche will be about $3.5 billion.
On the BT Group side, Airtel is increasing its stake from 24.5% to 28%, cementing its status as the largest shareholder. A filing with the London Stock Exchange said the additional shares will be acquired at market prices over the next three months. The BT board has invited Airtel's representative to take a second seat.
The African growth plan also extends to Airtel Money, the mobile payments arm. The company aims to grow Mobile Money users from 50 million to 80 million within three years, with new partnerships under discussion with Standard Bank and Mastercard. The shares climbed close to a record high in Mumbai.
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