Airtel Africa considers listing on Nigerian, London stock exchange to clear up debt


Airtel Africa is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange, as the continent’s second-largest mobile operator seeks to cut its debt levels.

The group, which is owned by Bharti Airtel of India, is weighing up a premium listing in London in which at least 25 per cent of its shares would be freely floated.

airtel africa

Airtel currently operates 14 countries in Africa and Nigeria is its largest market. In October it raised $1.25bn in an initial round of pre-IPO funding, plus a further $200m in January.

The company has about 3,000 employees, generated revenue of around $3bn in the year ended March. It is also considering a listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

According to Airtel,

“The 14 countries where we operate offer strong GDP growth potential and have young and fast-growing populations, low customer and data penetration and inadequate banking infrastructure,” Raghunath Mandava, Airtel’s CEO, said in a statement.

“These fast-growing markets provide us a great opportunity to grow both our telecom and payments businesses.”

Airtel currently owes $4 billion debt as at March compared to the initial debt of $7.7 billion in 2018.

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8 thoughts on “Airtel Africa considers listing on Nigerian, London stock exchange to clear up debt”

  1. Let me guess, this is the reason data is expensive in nigeria. MTN is owing, then they listed on the NSC, Airtel is oweing and then they are planning to do thesame. 9mobile is owing, and they are trying to sell their company. The question is glo owing too?

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