Denis Opudo
Bharti Airtel is planning to cut ties with Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Kenyan markets. This is meant to reduce its expenditures and increase the profits. This was according to analysts while addressing the local media in India the where the firm is based. Chairman Sunil Mittal said the firm might walk out of Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania through a purchase, merger or a sale. The firm is set to join Nigeria’s 9mobile.
The assets are seen to help Bharti minimize expenses and increase profit margins. The three countries where Bharti is looking for exits or M&A options have margins significantly lower against the current Africa average. In October orange finished the acquisition of Airtel Siera Leone which had started in 2016. In March, Orange announced closed the acquisition of Airtel Burkina Faso and Airtel Côte d’Ivoire. In March 2017, Millicom and Airtel agreed with Tigo Ghana Limited and Airtel Ghana Limited to combine their operations in Ghana in a move to see them have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity.
Airtel’s problems in Africa started when Farhan Khan, Airtel Africa’s Chief Commercial Office left the telecom company to join Al-Yah Satellite Communications Company as its new Chief Commercial Officer.
Airtel in June 2010 spent $9 billion to buy out Kuwait-based Zain Group out of 15 countries in Africa, taking $8.5 billion in debt targeting 100 million subscribers and $5 billion in revenue and move to profitability. The company further added another $5 billion cash to reorganize its Africa operations. However, by March 2015 the firm was counting $585 million in losses and a subscriber base of 76.2 million.
