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Ahead of the March 2024 deadline, and in line with the revised ownership guidelines, Airtel Kenya is seeking Kenyan investors to buy a 30 percent stake in the telecom operator.
In April 2022, Kenya unveiled a new telecom licensing policy to encourage local ownership of ICT firms. It gave a deadline of up to March 2024 to telecoms firms to ensure local ownership of at least 30 percent. Since 2008, the local ownership threshold has been a minimum of 20 percent.
Ahead of the March 2024 deadline, and in line with the revised ownership guidelines, Airtel Kenya is seeking Kenyan investors to buy a 30 percent stake in the telecom company. It has been reported that Airtel Kenya was in talks with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and the ICT ministry for either getting a strategic investor or listing the local unit on the Nairobi bourse. The move indicates that the firm does not plan to seek a waiver or an extension of time for compliance and it is preparing to list the stake on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) as an alternative.
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Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya said that the company is exploring the best option to ensure that there is local participation in the business. Selling the stake directly to high-net-worth investors could be an option for Airtel that cut its net loss to $18.37 million (Sh2.32 billion) in the year to March 2022 compared with $22.37 million (Sh2.8 billion) in the previous period. However, NSE follows a policy that firms seeking to be listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) should have a track record of profits. Airtel Africa will have to clear this barrier if the operator opts to make the local subsidiary, Airtel Kenya, a public firm.
