Our policy is to promote and appoint the best person for each role without regard to age, ethnicity or disability – only considering factors such as educational and professional backgrounds as appropriate for the position. This applies to the entire business, including the Board. We’re working to build diversity and inclusion into our appointment and promotion processes at every level. All Airtel Africa employees have completed our annual Code of Conduct training and certification, which covers our commitments on diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination.
Board diversity
We see diversity as fundamental to the successful operation of our Board and to creating a balanced culture across our business.
The Board represents a broad range of skills, experience, age, education, social background, ethnicity, gender and nationality. Our youngest director is 37 and the group is ethnically diverse. Most have spent a considerable amount of time living outside the UK, and this range of experience is invaluable in developing our business strategy and enhancing our governance.
The Board regularly reviews its balance and composition. Board diversity is supported by the Board diversity policy, which specifically applies to the Board and its committees and supports our wider approach to diversity. This policy was reviewed and approved during the year. The diversity of the Board’s principal committees reflects the diversity of the non-executive directors.
Our Board’s gender and ethnic diversity has changed since 31 March 2024 because John Danilovich and Segun Ogunsanya stepped down from the Board – and Sunil Taldar and Gopal Vittal joined.
Cynthia Gordon joined the Board on 1 April 2025, after the reporting period.
Gender balance
The Board is unwavering in its commitment to achieving the FTSE Women Leaders Review target of 40% female representation on the Board and senior leadership team, including our Group Executive Committee (Group ExCo) and their direct reports. Although we have not yet met this target, it remains a top priority as we understand that gender balance is crucial for innovation and success. We are focused on fostering an inclusive environment where women can excel and are actively implementing initiatives to boost female representation in these key roles.
This consideration is integral to our succession planning. The gender balance of our Group ExCo remains a challenge, and we’re working to bring more women into the committee by 2026. We’re making good progress in addressing the gender imbalance at our OpCo Executive Committee level and in our senior management teams who report to the ExCo. We’re championing initiatives that support diverse talent and thought to help achieve a better gender balance across our OpCos. These critical enablers of sustainable growth include the Airtel Africa mobility programme and the Airtel Academy – see more in Developing our people.
This year, our committee also considered how to achieve compliance with the Listing Rule Disclosure requirement that at least one woman should be appointed as chair or senior independent director either on the Board or as CEO or finance director by the end of 2026.
As at 31 March 2025, 25% of the directors were women and there were no women in senior Board positions. The Board is not currently compliant with these two Listing Rule targets.
We make sure the specification for any new senior management role is equally suited to applicants of any gender and that there’s no discrimination at any stage in the selection process based on applicant characteristics.
Ethnic diversity
The Board fully supports the Parker Review’s ‘Beyond One by 21’ recommendation and is pleased to confirm our compliance with the Listing Rule target of having at least one person on the Board from a minority ethnic background. 75% of our directors identify as having a non-white or minority-white background. Ethnicity table as at 31 March 2025
FCA diversity disclosure table – directors from ethnic minority background1
Number of Board members | Percentage of the Board | Number of senior positions on the Board (chair, SID, CEO, CFO) | Number in executive management2 | Percentage in executive management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 This data was collected by asking individuals to anonymously self-report against these categories. 2 The number of executive committee (ExCo) members. | |||||
Asian/Asian British | 7 | 58% | 4 | 6 | 53% |
Black /African/Caribbean/Black British | 2 | 17% | – | 2 | 17% |
White British or other white (including minority-white groups) | 3 | 25% | – | 1 | 12% |
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups | – | – | – | 1 | 6% |
Other ethnic group including Arab | – | – | – | – | – |
Not specified/prefer not to say | – | – | – | 6 | – |
Our Board diversity and inclusion policy
Our Board diversity and inclusion policy applies to the Board and its committees (specifically the Audit and Risk Committee, Remuneration Committee and Nominations Committee). It also supports our wider approach to diversity across the business. This is governed in greater detail by our Code of Conduct which applies to all employees, agency workers, self-employed contractors, casual workers, operatives, and job applicants.
Policy objectives
A minimum of 40% of the Board being women by the end of 2026
Implementation
Succession planning to ensure a greater gender balance is in place over the short, medium and long term
Progress against objectives
25% of our Board are women
Policy objectives
At least one woman in the role of senior member of the Board as chair, CEO, CFO or senior independent director by the end of 2026
Implementation
The Board supports the FCA proposals, noting the need to comply or explain
Progress against objectives
We’ll look to appoint a woman as a senior independent director when succession planning in 2026
Policy objectives
Maintain an ethnically diverse Board
Implementation
We consider Board diversity as part of our succession planning
Progress against objectives
We meet the recommendations of the Parker Review: 75% of the Board identify as non-white
Our people diversity policy
Our refreshed strategy drives the sustainable, profitable growth we need to create value for all our stakeholders. To facilitate this, we aim to be an employer of choice with a diverse and inclusive working environment and a culture of high performance, wellbeing, skills enhancement and coaching.
Our diversity policy
Purpose
We have a clear and ongoing purpose of Transforming Lives.
Diversity and inclusion are a part of who we are and how we do business – in line with our values of being alive, inclusive and respectful.
Policy statement
A diverse workforce is key to delivering value to our customers. So we work to create an inclusive environment that embraces our differences and helps employees reach their true potential. Our practices and policies to shape this include global mobility, talent acquisition, and learning and development. We’re particularly focused on developing women in management and leadership roles across our business.
Initiatives
- Finding and using diverse talent pools for all management and senior leadership recruitment
- Building succession and leadership development plans that encourage the promotion of women, such as the Women in Tech programme, the young technology leaders training programme, digital labs and the Airtel Africa mobility programme
- Mentoring programmes – each ExCo member is assigned to an OpCo to mentor the leadership team
- Facilities for expectant and new mothers, such as reserved parking and mothers’ rooms
- The CEO’s Women in Leadership council
- Women’s entrepreneurship programme to bring more self-employed women into sales and distribution roles
Training and awareness
- An ongoing programme to counter unconscious bias
- Using town hall sessions to create awareness and set the right tone from the top
- All employees completing yearly Code of Conduct training and certification covering our commitments on diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination
Monitoring and reporting
- A monthly diversity review by our chief HR officer with the HR directors of our regional businesses
- Quarterly progress reports to our Executive Committee and Remuneration and Sustainability Committees before being reported to the Board
- Quarterly progress reports to our management HR Committee
FCA diversity disclosure tables
Women in leadership – as at 31 March 20251
Number of Board members | Percentage of the Board | Number of senior positions on the Board (Chair, SID, CEO, CFO) | Number in executive management2 | Percentage in executive management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 The number of Executive Committee members. 2 This table reports on sex rather than gender identity, as defined by the Listing Rules. | |||||
Men | 9 | 75% | 4 | 15 | 100% |
Women | 3 | 25% | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Gender balance
The gender balance of the Group’s employees as at 31 March 2025 was as follows:
Senior management is all general managers and above excluding the OpCo Executive Committee, and middle management includes all employees at senior manager level.
This table is intended to meet the broader strategic report requirements under S414C (8)(c).
Category | Women | Men | Total | Women % | Men % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 CEO and CFO are part of board and Group ExCo (have been counted in both categories). 2 Cynthia Gordon joined the Board on the 1 April 2025; if included the percentage would be 30.8% for women and 69.2% for men. 3 Company secretary has been included in Group Executive Committee (ExCo) count. The Group ExCo direct reports are one of the sets of numbers in the diversity table already provided (under senior and middle management). 4 OpCo MDs have been included in senior and middle management. 5 The total number of men includes counting the CEO and CFO only once. | |||||
Group Board1,2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 25% | 75% |
Group Executive Committee Member3 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 6.2% | 93.8% |
OpCo Executive Committee | 41 | 103 | 144 | 28.5% | 71.5% |
Senior and middle management4 | 263 | 796 | 1,059 | 24.8% | 75.2% |
All other employees | 937 | 2,097 | 3,034 | 30.9% | 69.1% |
Total | 1,245 | 3,018 | 4,263 | 29.2% | 70.8% |