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Airtel Africa buys back 1.3m  shares from Citigroup 

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Lagos, March 7, 2024: Airtel Africa says it has so far purchased 1,306,861 shares in aggregate, at a volume weighted average price of 96.99 pound sterling per ordinary share since the commencement of its share buy-back programme on March 1.

Mr Alastair Jones of Investors Relations, Airtel Africa, said this in a notification sent to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd (NGX) on Wednesday in Lagos.

Jones stated that the company also bought an additional aggregate of 315,000 ordinary shares of 0.50 dollar at a volume weighted average price of 96.73 pound sterling in the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

He said the shares was purchased from Citigroup Global Markets Ltd.

According to him, the purchase was in pursuant to the authority granted by the company’s shareholders as part of its share buy-back programme.

Airtel Africa announced plans for a 100 million dollars share buyback programme, as it released its nine-month results ended Dec.31, 2023.

The share buy-back programme is expected to be in two tranches, with the first tranche commencing on March 1 and anticipated to end on or before August.

Airtel Africa agreed with Citigroup Global Markets to conduct the first tranche of the buy-back and carry out on-market purchases of its ordinary shares with the company which subsequently purchases its ordinary shares from Citigroup.

Under the agreement, Citigroup acts as riskless principal and makes decisions independently of the company.

The first tranche will amount to a maximum of 50 million dollars

The company said that the sole purpose of the buy-back programme is to reduce the capital of the company.

As such, all shares purchased under the buy-back programme will be cancelled.

Meanwhile, Airtel Africa reported 99.6 per cent decline in its Profit After Tax(PAT) at the end of its nine -months financial years ended December 2023 from 523million dollars in 2022 to 2 million dollars in December 2023.

Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.

The company offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally.

Airtel-Nigeria

Airtel pledges support for Africa’s digitalisation agenda

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Lagos, Aug. 14, 2023: Airtel Africa, a telecommunications and mobile money services company, has pledged support to drive Africa’s digitalisation agenda.

The Managing Director of Airtel Africa, Dr Segun Ogunsanya, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.

Ogunsanya reaffirmed Airtel’s commitment, while speaking to the President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr Lazarus Chakwera.

He said the company would continue to show commitment to drive digitalisation of the continent to unlock new opportunities and promote inclusive and sustainable growth.

Ogunsanya noted that Airtel planned to boost investments that were geared toward supporting the country’s target of achieving at least 20 per cent internet access by 2030.

He said this would allow the government of Malawi to become self-reliant and industrialised middle-income economy.

“Our purpose is to transform lives across the continent. We look forward to working with governments and other actors to bridge the digital and financial gap,” Ogunsanya said.

He said digitalisation had a huge potential to create economic opportunities in the continent.

Ogunsanya quoted Chakawera as saying that Malawi would continue to grow its partnership with Airtel.

“We will continue to grow our government-to-business partnership with Airtel so that we can create meaningful socio-economic value for all Malawians through modern digital services.

“To become a self-reliant and industrialised middle income economy, we will count on digital technologies that create new value for our economic system thereby facilitating the creation of sustainable wealth and jobs,” Chakawera said.

Airtel Africa attracts $200m pre-IPO investors

Growth plans must have futuristic potential – Airtel CEO

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Dr Segun Ogunsanya, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Airtel Africa Plc, says organisations must hinge their plans on the potential of the future and not on previous success.

Ogunsanya  made the remark at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) ‘April 2023 Sharing Experience Series’, with the theme: “Leading to Impact”, on Friday in Lagos.

Ogunsanya said this was necessary to capture futuristic market opportunities for profitability.

According to the Airtel CEO, companies must compete for the future in capturing market opportunities and must always be prepared to take on new challenges and risks as the opportunity arises.

He noted that while future trends for telecommunications was in artificial intelligence, automation, education and healthcare services without borders, companies must continue to evolve with the power of telecommunications.

Ogunsanya added that Airtel would continue to partner with government, regulatory agencies and civil societies to spread network coverage to rural areas to further drive connectivity.

“We will continue to deepen penetration in countries of operations and support lives in the country where we operate.

“In Mozambique, Airtel has about six women out of 12 in its leadership and has just launched a women in tech programme to encourage women take active part in technology.

“Beyond that, it is the right thing to have vast opinion from different gender and races for better quality and perspective. So, companies must encourage diversity for the value and good outcomes it adds to a company,” he said.

Ogunsanya advised businesses to align their values and purposes to gender, environmental and other sustainability practices beyond making profits to make impacts and transform lives.

According to him, Airtel has committed itself to transforming lives in Africa by connecting people via its services and is bound by this greater purpose which is immensely gratifying beyond making money.

He said that the company would continue to foster digital financial inclusion across Africa and further its mission to encourage female participation in the technology space.

He also stressed the need to maintain a healthy balanced work-life by consciously creating time for what was truly important and delegating others where necessary.

The Airtel CEO emphasised the need for brands to be able to effectively market themselves by providing incentives (either emotional or functional) and do all they could to tie the passion of their customers to the brand.

“You must learn to tie the passion of your customers to what you are selling and at Airtel, we look at music and entertainment as the connection to our brand.

“Sometimes you give freebies to encourage adoption and you must renew the love customers have for your brand to remain fresh in their minds everytime,” he said.

Ms Bisi Adeyemi, President, NBCC, said the ‘Sharing Experiences Series’ was designed to provide a platform for accomplished leaders in the organised  private sector to share their experiences.

“These leaders could share experiences in the areas of entrepreneurship and professional career fueled by passion, audacity, and innovation.

“We have had the honour of hosting Mr Atedo Peterside, Mr Jim Ovia, Mrs Adenike Ogunlesi, Mr Aig Imoukuede, Mr Karl Toriola, and Mrs Ireti Samuel-Ogbu and now Dr Segun Ogunsanya.

“His vision and dedication have been instrumental in shaping the telecommunications sector in Nigeria, and we are honoured to have him here today to share his valuable insights with us,” the NBCC president said.

Airtel-Nigeria

Airtel acquires 4G, 5G Spectrum from NCC

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Airtel Africa says its Nigerian subsidiary, Airtel Networks Ltd., has acquired 4G and 5G Spectrum from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The spectrum, it said, was worth 316.7 million dollars,  payable in Naira.

The communication provider disclosed this in a corporate disclosure  made available to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. on Monday.

According to Airtel  Africa, the additional spectrum will support the company’s investments in network expansion for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability, including 5G rollout.

It said the spectrum would provide significant capacity to accommodate its continued strong data growth in the country and exceptional customer experience.

“Airtel Nigeria is Airtel Africa’s largest market, with significant growth potential.

“The company led the industry in providing affordable 4G services across the country,  following the deployment of a fully modernised network which facilitated a 4-fold increase in data traffic over the last three years.

“The penetration of data customers in Nigeria remains low, providing significant opportunity for future growth.

“The acquisition of 5G spectrum will underpin our growth strategy by enabling the launch of higher speed connectivity to enhance customer service and accelerate digitalisation for consumers, enterprises and the public sector.”

The telecommunications provider also said that  key benefits of 5G would include higher speeds, lower latency, significant network capacity as well as an improved user experience.

“Furthermore, the deployment of 5G will accelerate the availability

and efficiency of fixed wireless access products across the country, contributing toward Airtel Nigeria’s progress in meeting the National Broadband Plan targets.

“The acquisition of 2600MHz spectrum will complement our already strong spectrum position in the market to enhance network capacity and future-proof our growth opportunity,” it added.

Commenting on the development,  Mr Segun Ogunsanya,  Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Airtel Africa,  said Nigeria remained a market with enormous potential for future growth in mobile services.

“Investments in new technologies and local infrastructure to enable this growth is a strategic priority for the group and will ensure we are able to provide reliable and affordable services to local communities across the country.

“5G is critical to these ambitions, and we look forward to launching new services to drive further digitalisation across the country, facilitate economic progress and transform lives across Nigeria,” he said.

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Airtel Africa records 82% Profit After Tax growth  

Airtel Africa Plc.’s profit before tax grew by 82 per cent to 755 million dollars in the financial year ended March 31, compared to the corresponding period in 2021.  

The company stated in Lagos on Wednesday that the strong growth resulted from margin expansion and cash generation.  

It added that the growth was driven by strong performance in the voice, data and mobile money segments of the company’s operations.  

It explained that its customer base increased by 8.7 per cent in the financial year under review to 128.4 million as against the 118.2 million posted in 2021.  

Constant currency underlying revenue grew by 23.3 per cent for the year with Nigeria topping the trend with 27.7 per cent increase.  

East Africa had 22.7 per cent increase, while Francophone Africa recorded a 17.2 per cent across all key services.  

Revenue from voice calls went up by 15.4 per cent; data usage went up by 34.6per cent, while Mobile Money rose by 34.9 per cent.  

Underlying Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation of 2.311 billion dollars increased by 29 per cent.  

Operating profit increased by 37.2 per cent to 1.535 million dollars, while profit after tax grew by 82 per cent to 755 million dollars, the company stated.  

Airtel

Airtel Africa grows revenue by 21.7% in 9 months

Airtel Africa Plc has posted a revenue growth of 3.49 million dollars for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2021.

This is contained in a statement by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, on Friday in Lagos.

Ogunsanya said that the revenue represented a growth of 21.7 per cent when compared with 2.87 million dollars recorded in the comparative period of 2020.

He said that the result was the effective execution of company’s strategy  across all its regional segments and key services.

Ogunsanya said the underlying revenue in constant currency grew by 24.8 per cent, revenue in Nigeria grew by 29.0 per cent, East Africa by 24.4 per cent and Francophone Africa rose by 19.0 per cent.

“We continued our strong double-digit growth across all key services: our voice revenue grew by 16.1 per cent, and both data revenue and mobile money revenue grew by 37.2 per cent and other revenue by 22.0 per cent.

“As a result, mobile services revenue grew by 23.3 per cent in constant currency (20.7 per cent in reported currency) and mobile money services revenue grew by 37.2 per cent (39.6 per cent in reported currency).

He said the year-on-year constant currency revenue growth rate for Q3’21 of 20.0 per cent was lower than the nine months growth rate of 24.8 per cent primarily due to softer comparatives in the first quarter of the prior year during the peak period of COVID-19 related restrictions across the region.

“A strong third quarter has contributed to a pleasing nine-month financial performance across all key metrics.

“Operationally, we have continued to execute on our network and distribution expansion plans, driving continued strong growth in ARPUs across voice, data and mobile money.

“We have also seen further improvement in our customer growth trends for the Group with Nigeria returning to strong customer growth after a period affected by the implementation of ‘know your customer’ requirements, posting 1.9 million net additions in the third quarter, taking total Group customer additions to 3.1 million.

“I am particularly pleased with developments in Nigeria, when in November we received approval in principle for both a payment service bank (mobile money) licence and a super-agent licence.

“We are now working closely with the Central Bank to meet all its conditions to receive the final operating licences and commence operations.

“This will enable us to expand our digital financial products and reach the millions of Nigerians that do not have access to traditional financial services.

“We continued to strengthen our balance sheet, with our leverage ratio now 1.4 times underlying EBITDA, thanks both to continued increases in operating cash flow delivery and to over 550 million dollars of cash that has now been received from minority investments into our mobile money business,” he said.

Ogunsanya added that the company would continue to invest in expanding and evolving its platform to further deepen both financial and digital inclusion across Africa.

“I continue to see huge growth potential across voice, data and mobile money and our strategy is delivering against this opportunity.

“Our sustained investments in both network and distribution expansion will help to ensure that both the communities and economies across our footprint will continue to benefit from increased and affordable connectivity and financial inclusion.

“We are committed to continue to improve the delivery of our services to our customers, with sustainability at the heart of our continued purpose to transform lives across Africa

“Net finance costs were lower compared with the previous period driven by lower forex losses.

“The increase in tax charges of 129 million dollars was due to higher operating profit and withholding tax on dividends by subsidiaries, with the prior period also benefitting from 14 million dollars deferred tax credit recognition,” he said.

Ogunsanya said the company’s basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) improved to 11.7 cents and EPS before exceptional items improved to 11.5 cents, with higher profits more than offsetting the associated increased tax.

“Our balance sheet has also been further de-risked by continued localisation of our debt into the OpCos,” he added.

Airtel

Airtel Africa receives approval as payment service bank

Airtel Africa has announced that its subsidiary, SMARTCASH Payment Service Bank Limited, has been granted approval in principle to operate a payment service bank business in Nigeria.

This is contained in a notice signed by the Company Secretary, Simon O’Hara, sent to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, in Lagos

According to the notice, the final approval was subject to the Group satisfying certain standard conditions within six months.

The Chief Executive Office, Airtel Africa, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, said in the notice: “I am very pleased that Smartcash has been granted an approval in principle to operate a service bank business in Nigeria.

“We will now work closely with the Central Bank to meet all its conditions to receive the operating licence and commence operations.

“The final operating licence will enable us to expand our digital financial products and reach the millions of Nigerians that do not have access to traditional financial services.

“I am looking forward to working closely with the Government, the Central Bank and traditional financial institutions, to expand financial inclusion and meet the evolving needs of our customers and the economy,” he said.

Airtel

Airtel Africa appoints Gebreyes as Non-Executive Director

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Airtel Africa Plc, a telecommunications and mobile money services company, has announced the appointment of Ms Tsega Gebreyes as an Independent Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.

This is contained in a notice signed by Airtel Africa’s Company Secretary, Mr Simon O’Hara, posted on the website of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to the notice, Gebreyes is the founding partner of Satya Capital Ltd., a private investment firm specialising in Africa-related investments.

It said: “She served as Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer of Celtel International BV and Senior Advisor to Zain.

“Her previous experience includes her role as a founding partner of the New Africa Opportunity Fund, LLP, a 120 million dollars private equity Fund anchored by Citibank; she has served in various positions at Citibank and McKinsey.

“Gebreyes currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of the London Stock Exchange Group, as Vice Chair of SES, a publicly listed company in Luxembourg, as Director of Satya Capital Limited and as Senior Adviser to TPG”.

The notice also said that she has served on the boards of several privately held companies operating in Africa, as senior adviser to MTC and as a non-executive director for Sonae International apart from serving in many other capacities on several boards.

Commenting on Gebreyes’ appointment, Airtel Africa Chairman, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal said: “On behalf of the Board, I am delighted that Tsega has agreed to join the Airtel Africa Board and we very much look forward to working closely with her.

“Tsega brings with her great telecommunications experience, working and investing in Africa and above all solid financial acumen. All this adds additional knowledge base at the Board.”

Airtel

Bridging Africa’s digital, financial gaps is Airtel’s priority — Ogunsanya  

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Airtel Africa has said that part of its mission is to sustainably bridge the financial and digital divide eminent in some parts of Africa.  

The new Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olusegun Ogunsanya, said this in his remarks during a Digital Closing Gong Ceremony to introduce him, organised by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday in Lagos.  

Ogunsanya said that according to latest data, about 19 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in areas without mobile broadband.  

“Even where there is coverage, a large number of people are unable to use internet for a variety of reasons. Our mission is to bridge this digital gap.  

“Also, a large number of Africans live in rural areas and are excluded from financial activities.  

“Even some of those living in urban areas do not have access to financial services, our mission again, is to bridge this financial gap.”  

He said that bridging this digital and financial divide sustainably was priority for him and his colleagues.  

“I know we are very important stakeholders and under my watch, we will leverage access and influence to a more inclusive society in Africa,”he said.  

According to Ogunsanya: “Today is an important day for me as I begin this new journey of delivering value to all our stakeholders around the world and building on a very strong foundation laid by my predecessor.  

“Beyond our primary goal of connecting people, with reliable mobile telephony, broadband and mobile money services, we will continue to use our various platforms to support our numerous communities, renewing our social licence every day.  

“I look forward to working with all stakeholders,” he said.  

The Chief Executive Officer of the NGX, Mr Temi Popoola, on behalf of the NGX board, welcomed Ogunsanya while recounting his efforts to the development and sustained growth of the Airtel Africa.  

Popoola said that one of the successes of Ogunsanya as a Chief Executive Officer was the successful listing of Airtel Africa on the London Stock Exchange in 2019 and also being recognised as the best Telecom CEO in Africa in 2017.  

“Since its listing in 2019, Airtel Africa has returned over 29 per cent and 79 per cent in price appreciation to its shareholders in its London and Lagos bourses respectively.  

“This performance is attributable, primarily, to the company’s strong financial results with return on capital employed, growing from 14 per cent in 2020 to 16.5 per cent in 2021.  

“We are confident on the sustained growth of the Airtel Africa franchise. Ogunsanya’s wealth of knowledge and experience over the years will come to bear in this new appointment,”he said.  

Popoola also said that the NGX prides itself of offering a secured and efficient platform for capital formation and liquidity for both corporates and governments in meeting their strategic objectives.  

The Doyen of the market, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuff, said that shareholders and the capital market community had very high expectations of the company to impact positively in developing the NGX and the Nigerian capital market.  

He said that the company could develop tbem to a level at par with other exchanges in Africa and around the world.

Airtel

Airtel Nigeria in $200m deal with TPG

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Tanko Mohammed

Airtel Africa has announced the signing of an agreement of $200 million investment in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV) by TPG’s Rise Fund, a global impact investing platform.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Simon O’Hara, the Group Company Secretary.

The Transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt free basis.

The statement said that the Rise Fund would hold a minority stake of 7.5 per cent in AMC BV upon completion of the transaction, with Airtel Africa continuing to hold the remaining majority stake.

Also, the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including necessary regulatory filings and approvals, as necessary and the inclusion of specified mobile money business assets and contracts into AMC BV.

According to the statement, AMC BV is currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations; and is now intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries.

The Transaction is the latest step in the Group’s pursuit of strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities, and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years.

Mr Raghunath Mandava, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, commented: “In line with our vision of enhancing financial inclusion, Airtel Africa offers a unique digital mobile financial services platform under the Airtel Money brand.

“In most of our markets there is limited access to traditional financial institutions, and little banking infrastructure, with less than half of the population having a bank account across sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our markets therefore afford substantial market potential for mobile money services to meet the needs of the tens of millions of customers in Africa who have little or no access to banking and financial services, and this demand is driving growth.

With today’s announcement we are pleased to welcome The Rise Fund as an investor in our mobile money business and as a partner to help us realise the full potential from the substantial opportunity to bank the unbanked across Africa,” Mandava said.

Mr Yemi Lalude, Partner at TPG who leads Africa investing for the Rise Fund, added: “Financial inclusion is a global issue that is most acute in Africa.

“Through Airtel Money, Airtel Africa has built a unique platform that is closing the gap between traditional financial institutions and the millions of unbanked Africans across the 14 countries where Airtel Africa operates.

“We look forward to working with Airtel Africa to enhance their mobile money services, broaden its use cases, and grow into new markets.

“With this investment in Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations, we are excited to expand the Rise Fund’s global fintech portfolio and continue to deepen our focus on improving financial inclusion in Africa and around the world,” he said in the statement.

According to the statement, the Group is in discussions with other potential investors in relation to possible further minority investments into Airtel Money, up to a total of 25 per cent of the issued share capital of AMC BV.

It said that some of the key elements of the transaction included: Key elements of the Transaction Agreement values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt free basis.

AMC BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel Africa, is currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations; and is now intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries once the inclusion of the remaining mobile money operations under AMC BV is completed.

A newly incorporated investment vehicle of the Rise Fund will invest $200 million through a secondary purchase of shares in AMC BV from Airtel Africa.

The transaction will close in two stages. $150 million will be invested at first close, once the transfer of sufficient mobile money operations and contracts into AMC BV has been completed, with $50 million to be invested at second close upon further transfers.

Airtel Africa aims to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years. Under the terms of the transaction.

In the very limited circumstances (in the event that there is no Initial Public Offering of shares in AMC BV within four years of first close or in the event of changes of control without TPG’s prior approval), TPG would have the option, so as to provide liquidity to them, to sell its shares in AMC BV to Airtel Africa or its affiliates at fair market value (determined by a mutually agreed merchant bank using an agreed internationally accepted valuation methodology).

The option is subject to a minimum price equal to the consideration paid by The Rise Fund for its investment (less the value of all distributions and any proceeds of sale of its shares, and with no time value of money or minimum return built in) and a maximum number of shares in AMC BV such that the consideration does not exceed $400 million.

The Transaction is expected to reach first close over the next three to four months. From first close The Rise Fund will be entitled to appoint a director to the board of AMC BV and to certain customary information and minority protection rights.

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