Sunil Bharti Mittal
Board chair and Nominations Committee chair
Date appointed to Board: July 2018
Independent: no
Age: 68
Nationality: Indian
Skills, expertise and contribution
Sunil is the founder and chair of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading conglomerates with diversified interests in telecom, space communications, digital infrastructure, financial services, real estate and hospitality. Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises, is a global telecommunications operator with a presence in 17 countries across India, South Asia and Africa. Serving over 650 million customers, Bharti Airtel is ranked second largest amongst mobile operators globally (by number of customers) Airtel is India’s largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa.
Sunil is the pioneering force behind the mobile revolution in India – he revolutionised the business model at Bharti Airtel to make affordable voice and data services available to all. Airtel has transformed the quality of life of millions of people globally, providing connectivity and digital empowerment. As chair of the Board, his leadership has brought immense value to Airtel Africa through his futuristic vision, vast knowledge and industry expertise.
External commitments
- Founder and chair of Bharti Enterprises and Bharti Airtel
- Vice president (Co-chair) of Eutelsat Group
- Non-executive director of BT Group plc
- Member of Hakluyt International Advisory Board
- Member of the Global Advisory Council, Harvard University
- Member of the International Business Council, World Economic Forum (WEF)
- Member of the Global Board of Advisors, Council of Foreign Relations (CFR)
- Member of the Board of Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE)
- Member of the India-US, India-Japan and India-Sweden Business Roundtable
- Co-chair of India UK CEO Forum
- Principal of World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab initiative
- Co-chair of the India-Africa Business Council
Previous roles
Sunil has served on the boards of several international bodies. He was chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) from June 2016 to June 2018 and chair of the GSM Association (GSMA) from January 2016 to December 2018. He was president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from in 2007. Sunil is closely associated with spearheading the Indian industry’s global trade, collaboration and policy – and has served on the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade and Industry.
Sunil has also served on the boards of several multinational companies including Unilever PLC, Standard Chartered Bank PLC and SoftBank Corp.
Sunil is a nominee of Bharti Airtel Limited.
Sunil Taldar
Managing director and chief executive officer
Date appointed to Board: July 2024
Independent: no
Age: 60
Nationality: Indian
Skills, expertise and contribution
Sunil Taldar joined Airtel Africa in 2023 as director of transformation. After a transition period, in July 2024 he became chief executive officer and director on the Board. Sunil holds responsibility for leading and overseeing key strategic initiatives aimed at transforming Airtel Africa’s business and operations. He has more than 30 years’ business management experience in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and telecoms, with a deep knowledge of general management, sales and distribution, consumer marketing, media and research and a proven track record in leading large teams across geographies in China, India, Indonesia and Singapore. Sunil is well equipped to deliver our strategic objectives and to lead the Group through the next stages of its development.
Sunil attends all Board meetings, Audit and Risk Committee meetings and chairs the Sustainability Committee. He is invited to attend the Remuneration and Nominations Committee meetings.
Other commitments
Board member of Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V., Airtel Mobile Commerce B.V. and Airtel Networks Limited – all subsidiaries of Airtel Africa plc.
Previous roles
Before joining Airtel Africa, Sunil was director of market operations at Bharti Airtel. He also held the roles of CEO and director of the direct to homes business. He was a member of the management board of Mondelēz (owner of Cadbury) in China, India and Indonesia.
Kamal Dua
Chief financial officer
Date appointed to Board: July 2025
Independent: no
Age: 47
Nationality: Indian
Skills, expertise and contribution
Kamal was appointed an executive director and chief financial officer on 9 July 2025. Prior to stepping into the CFO role, he was deputy chief financial officer, a role he held since November 2023. He uses his extensive experience to enhance financial governance and strategic planning at Airtel Africa, contributing to our continued growth and success. Kamal chairs our Finance Committee and attends Audit and Risk Committee and Sustainability Committee meetings.
Other commitments
Board member of Airtel Networks Ltd – Nigeria, Airtel Tanzania Plc and Airtel Networks Zambia Plc, holding companies of Airtel Africa plc.
Previous roles
Kamal brings more than 20 years of leadership and financial experience across the telecoms, FMCG and manufacturing industries.
Kamal joined Airtel Africa from Bharti Airtel where he served as the Group financial controller. He was responsible for financial control and governance, financial reporting and driving simplification, automation, annual operating plans, investor relations and strategic business plans. Before this, he was chief financial officer for the mobile business overseeing finance and supply chain operations. He began his career with Bacardi Martini (India) as a senior finance executive before moving to Tata Teleservices and Idea where he was senior finance executive and assistant finance manager, respectively.
Kamal is a qualified chartered management accountant and has attended executive programmes at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.
Tsega Gebreyes
Senior independent non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: October 2021
Independent: yes
Age: 56
Nationality: British
Skills, expertise and contribution
Tsega brings deep financial services and telecoms experience to the Board gained from global senior executive and non-executive roles in financial services, international business, mergers and acquisitions, mobile commerce and technology sectors. She’s a founding director of Satya Capital Limited, a private investment group focused on providing long-term growth capital.
External commitments
- Non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange Group
- Founding director of Satya Capital Limited
Previous experience
Tsega was formerly a board director and senior executive at Celtel International. While there, she played an instrumental role in attracting capital for investments in Africa and was a driving force behind the expansion of the business across Africa. She has also held various roles at Citibank and McKinsey. As well as her senior executive positions, Tsega has been vice chair and senior independent director of SES and a director of Sonae Group.
Paul Arkwright
Non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: May 2024
Independent: yes
Age: 64
Nationality: British
Skills, expertise and contribution
Paul brings to the Board a wealth of experience advising international businesses on investing and operating across Africa. As a skilled negotiator with well-honed international networking and communication skills, Paul plays a pivotal role as we continue to capitalise on growth opportunities across Africa. In 2016, he was awarded the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to international diplomacy.
External commitments
- Member of the Central Council of the Royal Over-Seas League
- Founder and director at Arkwright Advisory Limited
Previous experience
Before joining the Board, Paul was contracted to Airtel Africa plc as a special advisor to the Chair and Board focusing on political, legal and regulatory issues in Airtel markets in Africa. Until his retirement in 2020, Paul was a senior diplomat in the UK Diplomatic Service. He served as UK Ambassador to the Netherlands (2009-2013), UK High Commissioner to Nigeria (2015-2018), acting UK Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2020, and regional Ambassador for Africa at the COP26 Summit.
Paul was CEO of the UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2019.
Awuneba Ajumogobia (née Iketubosin)
Non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: April 2019
Independent: yes
Age: 66
Nationality: Nigerian
Skills, expertise and contribution
Awuneba is a chartered accountant with broad experience in assurance, taxation, finance and advisory services across several industries. Her expertise as an assurance and finance specialist, garnered at leading professional services firms, make her instrumental to Board decision-making.
External commitments
- Independent Board Chair, Airtel Networks Limited
- INED, International Breweries Plc, Nigeria
- Governing Council Chair, Grange School, Lagos
- Advisory Board member, University of Ibadan Research Foundation
- Trustee, Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON)
- Trustee, Alpha Nigeria
Previous roles
Awuneba was a board member at UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN) from 2009 to 2019. During her tenure, she chaired the Risk Management Committee and was a member of the Statutory Audit Committee. She was formerly Independent Board chair at CAP Plc. Prior to this, she developed her career at Peat Marwick, Deloitte and Accenture. Awuneba has also held advisory and implementation roles with a number of national development projects in Nigeria.
Cynthia Gordon
Non-executive director and Remuneration Committee Chair
Date appointed to Board: April 2025
Independent: yes
Age: 63
Nationality: British
Skills, expertise and contribution
Cynthia brings to the Board a unique blend of strategic, commercial and operational senior executive experience across different commercial sectors mostly spent internationally in the broad telecom and internet arena. She is an established non-executive and remuneration committee chair.
External commitments
- Non-executive director and remuneration committee chair of Bodycote plc
- Non-executive director and remuneration committee chair of Severfield plc
- Non-executive chair of Global Fashion Group
- Senior advisor to Tillman Global Holdings
Previous experience
Cynthia was previously a non-executive director of Eutelsat Communications SA, Tele2 and Kinnevik. As an executive director, Cynthia worked at a number of companies, including Millicom, Ooredoo and Orange. She was CEO of Millicom Africa responsible for six countries. She was also Group commercial director at Ooredoo with responsibility for commercial performance across 15 countries.
Shravin Bharti Mittal
Non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: October 2018
Independent: no
Age: 38
Nationality: British
Skills, expertise and contribution
As our youngest Board member and the entrepreneurial founder of a top-performing global technology investment firm, Shravin brings a diversity of view and expertise in the tech sector to our discussions and decision-making.
External commitments
- Founder of Unbound, a long-term investment firm aiming to build and back technology companies
- Managing director of Bharti Global Limited
- Board member of Oneweb Holdings Limited
- On the Board of Softbank Energy
- Board member of technology companies mPharma, Cars24, Syfe, Paack and FreightHub
Previous experience
Shravin was previously at SoftBank Vision Fund, a US$100bn fund investing in technology companies, and assistant director at Better Capital, a private equity firm in London where he turned around distressed retail and manufacturing businesses. Before this, he was involved in the launch of 3G at Airtel India and was on the senior management team at Airtel Africa where he spearheaded the post-acquisition integration of Zain. And before Airtel, he worked with J.P. Morgan investment bank covering technology, media and telecoms.
Shravin is a nominee of Bharti Airtel Limited.
Annika Poutiainen
Non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: April 2019
Independent: yes
Age: 55
Nationality: Finnish
Skills, expertise and contribution
Annika’s wide-ranging experience in audit and regulatory engagements contributes to her performance as a member of the Board and Audit and Risk Committee. With her legal background and deep knowledge of auditing, accounting and financial reporting, she brings a keen scrutiny to all governance and regulatory matters.
External commitments
- Member of the Board and Audit Committee of Truecaller
- Member of the Board and Audit Committee of Renta Group
- Member of the Swedish Audit Academy
Previous experience
Annika has been the chief legal officer in Europe for fintech company Trustly, executive chair of the Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision and, member of the Nasdaq Helsinki Listing Committee. She was Board and Audit Committee chair and member at listed companies eQ Group, Hoist Finance, Saferoad and Swedbank, as well as industry advisor to strategic communications firm Kekst CNC. She advised the Swedish government on the national implementation of the reformed EU Market Abuse regime and was head of market surveillance Nordics at Nasdaq and head of unit, prospectuses, exchanges and clearing houses at the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Annika was also an associate in the Capital Markets Group at Linklaters London and has been a practicing solicitor in the UK.
Ravi Rajagopal
Non-executive director and Audit and Risk Committee chair
Date appointed to Board: April 2019
Independent: yes
Age: 71
Nationality: British
Skills, expertise and contribution
Having worked in diverse industries such as healthcare and consumer brands, Ravi brings a wealth of recent and relevant financial experience and cultural insight to our Board and Audit and Risk Committee.
External commitments
- Non-executive director Lion Brewery (Ceylon) plc
- Non-executive member of the British Army Board and Audit Chair of the Army Audit and Risk Assurance Committee
- Hony. vice-president, the Science Museum Foundation (UK)
- Nominee non-executive director of API Holding Limited, India
- Independent non-executive director of Burjeel Holdings plc, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Member, Advisory Board, Sanmar Group Enterprises, India
- Non-executive director of Quoqo Technologies, Limited. India
Previous experience
Ravi held financial leadership roles at Diageo until retiring in 2015, including group controller in the UK with responsibility for the spirits business across sub-Saharan Africa and global head of mergers and acquisitions. Starting in 1979, Ravi held various roles at ITC India, including a secondment to West Africa with Bharti Airtel Telecoms. He has held numerous positions on various joint venture boards and Diageo’s India advisory board. He was also non-executive director of United Spirits in India and chair of Vedanta plc’s Audit and Risk Committee for five years.
Gopal Vittal
Non-executive director
Date appointed to Board: October 2024
Independent: no
Age: 59
Nationality: Indian
Skills, expertise and contribution
Gopal joined Airtel Africa’s Board of directors in October 2024. He brings with him solid telecoms and leadership expertise and focuses on driving digital transformation and providing strategic guidance to the organisation to strengthen the knowledge base at the Board. Gopal also drives the Airtel Group’s synergies in network strategy, technology, procurement and talent.
External commitments
- Executive Vice chair of Bharti Airtel Limited
- Non-executive director of Indus Towers Limited
- Non-executive director of BT Group plc
- Non-executive director of Airtel Payments Bank Limited
- Member of the Advisory Board for Deutsche Telekom
- Board chair for GSMA
- Non-executive director of Satya Bharti Foundation
- Trustee of Rayaru Foundation (Charitable Trust)
Previous experience
Gopal has over 20 years of experience at Hindustan Unilever, where he held leadership roles across multiple categories and markets. He served as Head of the Home and Personal Care division and was a member of the Hindustan Unilever board.
Akhil Gupta stepped down as non-executive director on 9 July 2025
Andrew Green CBE stepped down as non-executive director on 29 January 2026
Key to committees
Audit and Risk Committee
Nominations Committee
Remuneration Committee
Market Disclosure Committee
Committee chair