Our policy is to promote and appoint the best person for each role regardless of 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 effective operation of the Board and the culture of the Group. The Board represents a broad mix of skills, experience, age, background, ethnicity, gender and nationality, with significant international experience supporting robust strategy development and governance. The Board regularly reviews its balance and composition, supported by the Board Diversity Policy, which applies to the Board and its committees and was reviewed and approved during the year. The composition of the Board’s principal committees reflects the diversity of the non-executive directors.
Our Board’s gender and ethnic diversity has changed since March 2025 with Andy Green and Jaideep Paul stepping down from the Board – and Cynthia Gordon and Kamal Dua joining.
Gender balance
The Board remains committed to achieving the FTSE Women Leaders Review target of 40% female representation across the Board and senior leadership, including the Group Executive Committee and its direct reports. Progress during the year continued to be embedded through succession planning, with a particular focus on improving gender balance at Group ExCo level. Further progress was made across OpCo executive committees and senior management. Key enablers included targeted leadership development, the Airtel Africa mobility programme and the Airtel Academy which supports the development of a diverse and sustainable talent pipeline.
We have not yet reached 40% female representation on the Board.
As at 31 March 2026, 36% of the directors were women and our senior independent director is a woman. This meets Listing Rule Disclosure requirement that at least one woman on the Board should be appointed as chair, senior independent director, CEO or CFO.
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. 82% of our directors identify as having a non-white or minority-white background – see ethnicity table as at 31 March 2026.
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 | 64% | 4 | 6 | 41% |
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British | 2 | 18% | – | 2 | 13% |
White British or other white (including minority-white groups) | 2 | 18% | – | 2 | 13% |
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups | – | – | – | 2 | 13% |
Other ethnic group including Arab | – | – | – | – | – |
Not specified/prefer not to say | – | – | – | 3 | 20% |
Our Board diversity and inclusion policy
This 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
36% 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
Tsega Gebreyes was appointed as senior independent director in January 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: 82% of the Board identify as non-white
Our people diversity policy
Our 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
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 complete 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 updates to ExCo on diversity progress within their line of management
FCA diversity disclosure tables
Women in leadership – as at 31 March 20261
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 | 7 | 64% | 3 | 15 | 93.8% |
Women | 4 | 36% | 1 | 1 | 6.2% |
Gender balance
The gender balance of the Group’s employees as on 31 March 2026 was as follows:
Category | Women | Men | Total | Women % | Men % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 GCEO & GCFO are part of Board and Group ExCo (have been counted in both categories). 2 Company secretary has been included in Group Executive Committee count. The Group Executive Committee direct reports are one of the sets of numbers in the diversity table already provided (under Senior and middle management). 3 OPCO MDs have been included in Senior and middle management. 4 Senior management is all general managers and above excluding OPCO & Group Executive committee, and middle management includes all employees at senior manager level. | |||||
Group Board1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 36.4% | 63.6% |
Group Executive Committee Member2 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 6.3% | 93.8% |
OpCo Executive Committee3 | 39 | 112 | 151 | 25.8% | 74.2% |
Senior and middle management4 | 292 | 885 | 1,177 | 24.8% | 75.2% |
All other employees | 1,017 | 2,151 | 3,168 | 32.1% | 67.9% |
Total | 1,353 | 3,168 | 4,521 | 29.9% | 70.1% |