Airtel Africa

The story of Airtel Africa isn't a typical startup narrative; it's a tale of strategic acquisition. In 2010, the Indian telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel, founded by Sunil Bharti Mittal, made a bold move into the African continent. It acquired the African operations of Zain, a Kuwaiti telecom operator, for a staggering $10.7 billion. This wasn't the creation of a new company from scratch, but rather the takeover of an existing one with the vision to unlock its potential under new leadership. The goal was to replicate Bharti Airtel's successful 'minutes factory' model, which focused on providing affordable voice and data services to a mass market. Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, quickly went to work, expanding its network and subscriber base across 14 countries. A key part of its growth strategy was the early introduction and scaling of its mobile money service, Airtel Money, which provided financial services to many who were previously unbanked. In June 2019, Airtel Africa took a major step toward financial independence by launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, successfully raising significant capital. This was followed by a listing on the Nigerian Exchange Group. Today, with a large subscriber base, the company continues to be a major player in Africa's telecommunications and mobile money landscape, with plans to publicly list its mobile money unit in the future.