By Our Reporter
Airtel Africa, has refuted speculative media reports stating its possible exit from Africa. The company, which has operations in 15 countries across the continent including Uganda has reaffirmed that it remains committed to Africa and will continue to invest in its operations to grow sustainably.
According to the company’s Managing Director and CEO for Africa Raghunath Mandava, Airtel recent 3rd quarter results were strong. The underlying Africa revenues for the quarter accelerated by 6.0% year on year, the highest over the last 9 quarters. The organizations efforts to improve the quality of customer acquisitions have resulted in a reduction in customer churn to 4.9% from 6.0%. Data consumption and revenues have grown by 91% and 24% year on year respectively, led by stronger data networks. The strong focus on cost management has led to a significant underlying EBITDA margin expansion of 4.5% year on year, which now stands at 24.5%. Africa is now generating positive free cash.
Airtel Africa MD and CEO Raghunath Mandava.
“All the steps taken recently with regard to human resources and infrastructure have been geared towards readying the organization to grow efficiently and sustainably in the medium to long term. The company remains committed to competing in various markets and providing more choice to customers through further investments to ensure consistent delivery of quality and value for money services to our customers. We are also accelerating our investments in new data networks and to modernize our existing networks. We are committed to launch 4 G in multiple countries,” he said in a statement.
He added, “Mergers and acquisitions continue to be the norm for any multinational organization and they affect all global organizations in equal measures as and when they happen. As a strategy, we look for opportunities to acquire or merge in areas that are operating in a fragmented market structure with too many players in a small market. Last year, Airtel and Orange reached a mutually beneficial agreement on the assets in Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. Similarly, Airtel also acquired assets in Uganda, Congo and Kenya in recent times. The agreements brought together the strengths of Airtel, Warid and Essar. This has offered benefits to customers in the form of a superior and wider network, affordable voice and data services and better customer care. Away from Africa, recently, we merged with Robi in Bangladesh to create a solid and profitable No.2 player in the market,” he added.
Mandava said recent results demonstrate the effectiveness of Airtel’s business strategy in Africa. The organization sees an opportunity ahead to emerge with a broader reach and sharper execution.