New Board and senior management appointments
This year, we welcomed Paul Arkwright and Gopal Vittal to the Board. Cynthia Gordon joined the Board on 1 April and Kamal Dua will become CFO after Jaideep Paul retires in July, ensuring continuity and organisational growth. We also appointed new managing directors in several operating companies, adding diverse skills and perspectives to our organisational leadership.
Segun Ogunsanya stepped down as CEO on 30 June 2024.
Refreshed strategy
Our newly refreshed six-pillar strategy emphasises exceptional customer experience as the key to positive social impact and sustainable revenue growth. Aligning our efforts across these strategic pillars both strengthens our market position and reinforces our dedication to making a meaningful difference in society.
Board visits to operations
On separate occasions, our non-executive directors individually visited Congo, DRC, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria and Rwanda to hear first-hand about operational challenges and engage directly with employees. Interactions like these help the Board make informed strategic decisions and strengthen our relationships with people across Airtel Africa, creating a culture of trust and collaboration.
In January 2025, the Board visited Bharti Airtel’s operations in Delhi to gather insights into their Go To Market strategies, network quality improvements and digital tool usage. This visit enabled Airtel India and Airtel Africa to share knowledge and strategies to improve sales and better manage customer relationships.
External Board evaluation
We conducted a comprehensive, externally facilitated Board evaluation – see more in the Board performance section.
Enhanced focus on preparing for legislative changes
We’re working to implement key legislative changes, such as the beneficial impact of the new UK Listing Rules on our ongoing relationship with our majority shareholder and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). We’ve also thoroughly reviewed our compliance with the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code, and our preparedness for the 2024 Code, to make sure we’re working in line with the latest standards and practices. This proactive approach underscores our commitment to strong governance and positive shareholder relations.
Establishing the Airtel Africa Foundation
We launched a new philanthropic arm of Airtel Africa, the Airtel Africa Foundation (the ‘Foundation’), to further advance financial inclusion, education, environmental protection and digital inclusion in the communities we serve. The Foundation uses strategic partnerships and impactful programmes to drive socio-economic transformation across Africa.
A closer look at…
The Board’s visit to India
In January 2025, our Board visited our majority shareholder Bharti Airtel in Delhi to gather insights into their successful Go to Market (GTM) strategy. This was preceded by knowledge-exchange sessions between Airtel Africa and Airtel India on the adoption of ‘lift and shift’ programmes from India to Africa on an ‘arm’s length’ basis to ensure independence – this involves transferring and implementing successful strategies in Africa, such as automating sales processes and replicating Bharti’s customer, network and enterprise solutions. The visit enabled Board members to better understand Bharti Airtel’s GTM operations, network quality improvements and digital tool usage.
While in Delhi, the Board:
- Explored Bharti Airtel’s culture of prioritising network infrastructure with go to market strategies and omni-channel approaches
- Engaged with teams working with customers in prepaid, postpaid and broadband services
- Observed the direct to consumer (D2C) ecosystem underlying Bharti Airtel’s sales and customer engagement
- Observed market launch activities and the use of digital tools to enhance productivity
- Discussed the sharing of knowledge and strategies to improve sales and better manage customer relationships
The visit reinforced the value of using knowledge gained through successful projects in India to accelerate growth in Africa, and particularly to enhance sales and customer lifecycle management.